CD  arc 


^.  •       TNI 
Ul 


MINUTB-MEN 


Ayer,  Mass.,  Sept.  12,  i8gg. 

(Please  accept  the  accompanying  volume  as 
the  gift  of  Luke  <Blanchard,  ofWestAtlon,  Mass., 
the  publisher,  with  the  kind  regards  of  the  author. 

(Respectfully, 

jiLFfREfD  S.  HUftSOJI 


w 
z 

c 


COMMEMORATIVE 


OF 


Calvin  and  Luther  Blanchard 

ACTON  MINUTE-MEN 

1775 


BY 

ALFRED  SERENO  HUDSON 

AUTHOR  OF 

History  of  Sudbury,"  "Annals  of  Sudbury,  Wayland  and 
Maynard,"  "Souvenir  of  the  Wayside  Inn,"  Etc. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

LUKE  BLANCHARD,  WEST  ACTON,  MASS. 
1899 


PRESS  OF 

HUNTLEY  S.  TURNER 
AVER,  MASS. 


To 

THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  THE  MlNUTE-MEN, 

WHO,  TRUE  TO  THEIR  NAME, 

MUSTERED  AT  THE  MIDNIGHT  ALARM  AND 

MET  THE  MINISTERIAL  TROOPS  ON   APRIL  IQTH,  1775, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED 

BY  THE  PUBLISHER, 
LUKE  BLANCHARD,  OF  ACTON,  MASS., 

A  GRANDSON  OF  CALVIN 
AND  GRAND-NEPHEW  OF  LUTHER  BLANCHARD. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

DESCRIPTION  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS, 5 

HONOR  TO  WHOM  HONOR  is  DUE 9 

SKETCH  OF  LUTHER  BLANCHARD'S  LIFE, 14 

DEDICATION  OF  THE  BLANCHARD  MEMORIAL  STONE,  35 
THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF   MINUTE-MEN  MEMORIAL 

STONES, 53 

THE    MINUTE-MAN    AND    THE    NEW    ENGLAND 

MEETING-HOUSE 59 

THE   DESIGN    OF    THE    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL 

STONE 66 

ANCESTRAL   ANNALS   OF   CALVIN  AND  LUTHER 

BLANCHARD, 71 

CAUSE  OF   LUTHER  BLANCHARD'S  DEATH, 89 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE  BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL  STONE, Frontispiece. 

THE  WHITE  COCKADE 17 

THE  START  OF  THE  ACTON  MINUTE  COMPANY,....  27 

THE  OLD  NORTH  BRIDGE 35 

THE  JONATHAN  HOSMER  HOUSE 47 

STATUE  OF   THE  MINUTE-MAN, 53 

PICTURE  OF  THE  FIRST  MEETING-HOUSE,  ACTON,..  59 

PICTURE  OF  LUKE  BLANCHARD, 67 

PICTURE   OF   SIMON  BLANCHARD, 71 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE  START  FOR  CONCORD. 

The  picture  of  Captain  Isaac  Davis  leading  his  com- 
pany of  minute-men  from  his  house,  April  iQth,  1775,  is 
reproduced  from  a  painting  by  Mr.  Arthur  F.  Davis. 
The  picture  is  considered  natural. 


THE  OLD  NORTH  BRIDGE,  CONCORD,  MASS. 

The  author  of  this  book,  in  making  a  picture  of  the 
Old  North  Bridge  and  the  Major  Buttrick  house  on  the 
hill,  has  followed  the  suggestions  of  a  picture  by  Doolittle 
and  Earle,  made  about  three  months  after  the  Con- 
cord fight ;  while  for  the  adjacent  country  he  has  followed 
nature  as  it  is  at  the  present  time,  which  is,  probably,  in  its 
main  features,  about  as  it  was  in  1775.  The  ground  on  the 
northerly  side  of  the  bridge  about  the  causeway  is  low,  and 
at  high  water  the  river  sometimes  overflowed  it.  The 
causeway  was  short,  and  turned  easterly  by  the  upland,  and 
entered  the  highway  which  led  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Major  Buttrick's  house.  The  point  of  view  from  which  the 
picture  was  taken  is  on  the  southerly  side  of  the  river,  a 
few  rods  above  the  bridge. 


6  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

THE  JONATHAN  HOSMER  HOUSE. 

The  picture  of  this  house  was  sketched  by  the  author, 
from  a  description  given  him  by  Mrs.  Emeline  Hall  of 
West  Acton,  Mass.,  a  granddaughter  of  Deacon  Jonathan 
Hosmer.  Mrs.  Hall  was  born  in  the  old  Hosmer  house  in 
18^8,  and  lived  there  till  she  was  eighteen  years  old.  Her 
recollection  of  the  house  is  quite  distinct,  and  when  the 
drawing  was  completed,  she  pronounced  it  natural.  There 
formerly  stood  to  the  westerly  of  the  house  a  shed  and 
chaise-house ;  and  a  barn  stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
road.  The  tree  on  the  south-easterly  corner  was  an  elm, 
and  in  the  rear  were  several  butternut  trees.  The  house 
faced  southerly.  The  front  yard  was  large  and  unfenced. 
The  present  road  from  West  Acton  to  South  Acton  was 
not  in  existence  in  1775.  The  old  road  from  Acton  center, 
so  much  as  is  represented  in  the  picture,  is  the  same  now, 
as  formerly,  and  runs  by  the  memorial  stone,  joining  the 
West  and  South  Acton  road,  nearly  opposite  the  Herman 
A.  Gould  house.  Formerly  this  road  turned  at  a  point  near 
the  Hosmer  house,  and  went  up  the  hill  northerly  of  the 
present  South  Acton  road ;  this  latter  section  can  still  be 
traced  by  a  cart-path.  The  front  room  to  the  south- 
westerly, which  was  entered  by  the  side  door,  was  used  for 
the  kitchen. 


PREFACE. 


In  writing  this  little  volume  the  author  has  taken  such 
liberty  as  he  considered  suitable  and  the  nature  of  the  case  re- 
quired. There  has  been  but  little  consultation  with  the  pub- 
lisher as  to  what  matter  it  should  contain,  or  the  form  of  its 
presentation  ;  his  purpose  being  to  have  properly  given  an  ac- 
count of  the  events  of  the  first  "  Patriots'  Day,"  as  they 
stand  related  to  the  dedication  of  the  "  Memorial  Stone " 
erected  by  him  to  the  memory  of  his  ancestor,  Calvin  Blanch- 
ard,  and  his  great  uncle,  Luther;  a  purpose  commendable  in 
itself,  and  in  the  interest  of  local  history.  Whatever  relates  to 
the  publisher  personally  has  been  editorially  inserted,  and  in  no 
instance  has  any  part  of  the  manuscript  been  submitted  for  his 
perusal.  As  the  work  has  been  gotten  up  by  the  publisher  for 
private  distribution,  the  subject  is  more  specific,  and  its  scope 
more  limited  than  if  it  were  a  contribution  to  literature  of  a 
more  public  character. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  the  hope  of  the  author  that  these  few 
pages  may  prove  a  fresh  inspiration  to  all  who  are  interested  in 
what  "  Patriots'  Day  "  is  suggestive  of,  and  may  tend  to  in- 
crease the  admiration  of  posterity  for  the  work  and  character 
of  the  Minute-men  of  '75. 

A.  s.  H. 

AVER,  MASS.,  June  8,  1899. 


"  But,  O  where  can  dust  to  dust 

Be  consigned  so  well, 
As  where  heaven  its  dews  shall  shed, 
On  the  martyred  patriot's  bed, 
And  the  rocks  shall  raise  their  head, 

Of  his  deeds  to  tell?" 

Picrpont. 


HONOR  TO  WHOM  HONOR 
IS  DUE. 


I. 

At  Acton,  Middlesex  County,  Massachusetts,  April 
igth,  1895,  a  memorial  stone  was  dedicated  with  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : 

"FROM  THIS  FARM  WENT 

CALVIN  AND  LUTHER  BLANCHARD 

TO  CONCORD  FIGHT  AND  BUNKER  HILL, 

SONS  OF  SIMON  BLANCHARD,  WHO  WAS 

KILLED  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  QUEBEC,  1759. 

LUTHER  WAS  THE  FIRST  MAN  HIT  BY  A 

BRITISH  BULLET  AT  THE  OLD  NORTH  BRIDGE 

AND  DIED  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  HIS  COUNTRY 

A  FEW  MONTHS  LATER." 

This  memorial  was  erected  by  Luke  Blanchard  of 
Acton,  a  grand-son  of  Calvin  and  grand-nephew  of  Luther, 
whose  names  are  thereon  inscribed ;  and  is  situated  in  that 


JO  LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL. 

part  of  the  town  which  is  known  as  West  Acton,  about  one 
mile  northerly  of  the  Fitchburg  railroad  station  and  about 
two  miles  from  Acton  Center. 

The  stone  stands  by  the  wayside,  in  a  quiet  spot,  and 
at  a  junction  of  roads,  one  of  which  leads  to  South  Acton, 
the  other  northerly  towards  the  center. 

The  farm  on  which  the  monument  stands  is  now  known 
as  the  Hermon  A.  Gould  farm,  but  more  than  a  century  ago 
it  was  a  part  of  the  homestead  of  Jonathan  Hosmer.  The 
dedicatory  exercises  consisted  of  patriotic  speeches,  appro- 
priate music  and  prayer;  and  to  preserve  some  of  these  for 
the  perusal  of  posterity,  as  well  as  to  present  some  additional 
facts  relative  to  the  notable  lives  and  events  thus  com- 
memorated, is  the  object  of  the  following  compilation.  Be- 
fore entering  upon  the  task  allotted  us,  it  may  be  appropriate 
to  remark,  that  it  is  a  delicate  one  to  undertake,  from  the 
fact  that  the  hero  of  our  sketch  had  many  peers,  and  space 
forbids  an  extended  mention  of  all  of  them. 

While  there  went  from  Acton  to  the  North  Bridge  at 
Concord,  Luther  Blanchard,  the  fifer,  there  went  also  Isaac 
Davis,  Abner  Hosmer  and  James  Hayward.  These,  with 
their  fellow  townsmen  who  went  with  them,  all  marched 
through  a  gateway  of  glory,  and  each  was  a  willing  sacrifice 
ready  to  be  offered  when  the  time  should  come.  There 
was  no  difference  whatever  in  the  purity  of  purpose  that 
moved  these  young  patriots;  all  had  like  hopes  and  like 
fears,  and  of  them  it  could  truthfully  be  said, 

"Few  were  the  numbers  they  could  boast 

But  every  freeman  was  a  host, 

And  felt  as  if  himself  were  he 

On  whose  sole  arm  hung  victory." 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  II 

As  of  Acton,  so  it  was  of  other  towns.  Among  these 
soldiers  was  no  priority  of  merit.  It  was  a  hero's  day  for 
them  all.  Never  since  the  days  of  Leonidas  and  his  Spar- 
tan band  has  the  sun  shown  on  a  braver  company. 

The  soft  rays  of  the  sun,  that  were  thrown  back  from  a 
thousand  sparkling  dewdropson  that  April  morning,  were  but 
the  precursor  of  a  gathering  glory  that  was  to  be  reflected 
upon  them  in  the  far  off  years.  If  the  external  experience 
of  the  actors  was  different,  it  was  by  force  of  mere  circum- 
stance ;  for  had  each  had  his  own  way  perhaps  he  himself 
would  have  been  foremost,  and  the  first  front  of  the  Revolu- 
tion would  have  been  made  by  his  own  company.  This  equal- 
izing of  honors  has  been  too  much  overlooked,  and  in  the 
honest  attempt  to  get  at  the  facts  in  the  interest  of  exact 
history,  such  as  the  location  of  dates  and  the  ascription  of 
personal  acts  to  the  right  parties,  there  may  have  sometimes 
existed  questionable  rivalry.  But  if  such  is  the  case  it  is 
unfortunate.  Truth  requires  no  invidious  comparisons. 
We  may  magnify  facts,  but  show  no  partiality.  Because 
of  incidental  circumstances,  such  as  time,  distance  and 
population,  the  parts  borne  by  different  towns  on  April 
1 9th,  were  from  the  nature  of  the  case  dissimilar.  Be  it 
so,  and  let  that  dissimilarity  be  recognized,  but  let  no  favor- 
itism be  based  upon  it.  To  Lexington  let  it  be  accorded 
that  her  town's  common  land  was  made  sacred  by  the 
first  blood  spilled.  Let  Concord  claim  the  first  battle 
ground  on  which  George  the  Third  met  with  organized 
resistance.  Admit  that  Sudbury  sent  the  most  militia 
and  minute-men.  Place  Acton  in  the  van  as  she  was. 
And  so  to  all  the  other  towns  engaged  give  the  credit  that 
is  their  due.  Let  whatever  of  especial  honor  belongs 


I  a  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

to  them  be  freely  accorded,  and  then  there  will  remain  a 
residue  of  renown  which  will  make  each  one  great. 

And  so  of  the  individual  actors  in  that  never  to  be  for- 
gotten conflict,  whatever  of  priority  belongs  to  them  as 
relates  to  time,  place,  or  rank,  let  the  honor  be  recognized. 
If  Captain  Isaac  Davis  was  the  first  to  fall  on  April  igth, 
let  the  fact  be  related  and  recorded,  and  let  no  other  be 
given  his  place.  If  Abner  Hosmer  was  the  next  to  join  the 
silent  procession,  which  on  that  memorable  morning  struck 
their  tents  on  earth  to  spread  them  "  On  Fame's  eternal 
camping  ground,"  let  no  one  deny  him  the  honor.  And  if 
there  followed,  a  little  later,  James  Hayward  and  Luther 
Blan chard,  let  it  be  said  of  them  that  they  also  were  faith- 
ful unto  death,  and  are  numbered  among  "the  few  the 
immortal  names  that  were  not  born  to  die."  Let  us  inscribe 
on  granite  or  bronze  their  virtues,  nor  stint  them  in  the 
bestowment  of  a  country's  gratitude,  because  death  came  not 
as  to  the  others,  on  the  battlefield,  but  by  slow,  lingering 
approaches,  and  through  the  torture  of  painful  wounds.  To 
do  this  is  magnanimous;  to  do  this  is  just;  but  to  do  less 
is  unjust. 

Let  us  then  to  each  of  those,  who,  on  that  morning, 
which  John  Hancock  said  was  a  glorious  one  for  America, 
girded  himself  for  battle,  give  unstinted  praise;  remember- 
ing, that  however  much  we  may  extol  their  valor  and  admire 
their  simple  virtues,  we  are  in  no  danger  of  doing  anything 
in  this  direction  that  will  be  more  than  commensurate  with 
their  deserts.  For  it  was  a  dark,  dark  morning  that  had  its 
dawning  on  that  April  iQth  —  dark  in  its  uncertainties  and 
its  doubtful  issues.  They  who  entered  upon  its  terrible 
experience  could  not  forecast  what  we  see  so  clearly,  that 


LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL.  13 

liberty  and  light  were  about  to  break  on  a  continent.  The 
future  was  hidden  from  their  vision.  The  horizon  of  their 
hope  was  a  narrow  one.  Their  pillar  of  fire  was  their  faith 
in  the  God  of  battles.  Their  cloud  was  their  belief  that 
His  strong  arm  would  prevail. 

"  Their  feet  had  trodden  peaceful  ways ; 

They  loved  not  strife ;  they  dreaded  pain  ; 

They  saw  not,  what  to  us  is  plain, 
That  God  would  make  man's  wrath  his  praise. 

No  seers  were  they,  but  simple  men ; 

Its  vast  results  the  future  hid ; 

The  meaning  of  the  work  they  did 
Was  strange  and  dark  and  doubtful  then. 

They  went  where  duty  seemed  to  call ; 

They  scarcely  asked  the  reason  why 

They  only  knew  they  could  but  die  j 
And  death  was  not  the  worst  of  all." 

Whittier. 


SKETCH  OF 


LUTHER  BLANCHARD'S  LIFE. 


II. 

The  brothers,  Luther  and  Calvin  Blanchard,  were  born 
in  the  town  of  Boxboro,  in  that  portion  of  its  territory 
which  was  formerly  a  part  of  Littleton. 

The  deed  of  the  farm  on  which  they  were  born  was,  if 
not  the  second,  at  least  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  deeds 
from  "ye  proprietors"  in  the  ancient  Nashoba  plantation. 
The  territory  of  the  old  homestead,  whose  soil  was  for  gen- 
erations tilled  by  the  Blanchards,  is  bounded  easterly  by  the 
so-called  "Powers'  farm"  and  southerly  by  "Indian  land;" 
which  latter  consisted  of  about  five  hundred  acres  in  the 
southeast  corner  of  Littleton,  and  was  said  to  be  three  hun- 
dred poles  long.  It  was  in  the  vicinity,  if  not  a  part  of  the 
exact  spot,  where  the  Christian  Indians  of  the  Nashoba  mis- 
sion, who  were  fostered  by  Eliot  and  Gookin,  made  their 
wigwams  and  prayed  and  sang  psalms  in  the  deep  forest 
shade,  or  in  the  bright  sunny  openings  of  the  woodland,  and 
neighbored,  it  may  be,  with  their  kinspeople  on  the  green 
intervales  of  the  Musketahquid  river  at  what  is  now  Concord. 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  15 

Their  father,  Simon,  was  descended  from  Thomas,  who 
early  settled  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  the  part 
which  is  now  Maiden.  Luther  and  Calvin  probably 
inherited  a  martial  spirit  from  their  father,  for  we  find  his 
name  given  among  those  brave  New  Englanders,  who  fought 
in  the  intercolonial  war  between  England  and  France  in  the 
period  of  1756-1763,  and  tradition  informs  us,  that  he  fell 
on  the  plains  of  Abraham  at  Quebec,  fighting  under  General 
Wolf,  Sept.  13,  1759;  so  that  young  Luther's  family,  at  least 
on  his  father's  side,  presumably,  was  thoroughly  imbued 
with  a  martial  nature,  and  hence  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  a  later  generation  should  give  evidence  of  its  trans- 
mission. Some  time  before  his  soldier  life  commenced,  he 
left  his  home  to  learn  the  mason's  trade;  and  we  find  him  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  with  his  brother  Calvin  thus  employed, 
and  living  with  Jonathan  Hosmer  on  the  place  in  Acton 
before  described  as  the  site  of  the  memorial  stone.  As 
Jonathan  Hosmer  had  a  son  who  was  present  at  the 
Concord  fight,  and  as  they  lived  not  far  from  the  home 
of  Captain  Isaac  Davis,  the  gunsmith,  it  is  easy  to  sup- 
pose that  the  three  boys  made  frequent  visits  of  an  even- 
ing to  his  shop,  and  talked  of  the  probability  of  war;  and 
when  to  meet  any  emergency  a  minute  company  was  formed, 
it  was  only  natural  for  them  to  enlist  under  the  leadership 
of  neighbor  Davis.  Luther  Blanchard,  being  a  fife  player, 
probably  enlisted  as  the  company's  fifer,  a  position  of  no 
small  importance  in  those  times,  when  other  wind  instru- 
ments were  rare,  and  the  stirring  strains  of  a  fife  and  kettle 
drum  were  the  usual  music  on  all  military  occasions.  As 
minute  companies  were  made  up  more  or  less  of  persons 


l6  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

of  nonage,  and  others  not  liable  to  militia  enrollment,  fre- 
quent drill  meetings  were  quite  essential  for  affording  mili- 
tary instruction,  and  in  the  various  towns  some  of  these  drill 
meetings  were  held  at  evening.     Probably,  weeks  before 
the  hostile  outbreak,  the  youthful  fifer  was  present  at  the 
drills,  and  with  his  fellow  musician,  Francis  Barker,  the 
drummer,  played  while  Captain  Davis  manceuvered  his  men 
in  the  little  lane  and  practiced  them  in  the  manual  of  arms; 
and  when  the  company  broke   rank  and   was  dismissed, 
naturally  enough  Luther,  and  the  other  boys  of  his  neigh- 
borhood, as  they  wended  their  way  homeward,  would  have 
music  by  themselves,  so  that  doubtless  "The  White  Cock- 
ade" was  a  familiar  air  to  the  dwellers  in  that  vicinity. 
But  that  little  company  was  not  long  to  play  soldier,  and 
when  on  the  evening   of  April  i8th  the  alarm  came   to 
Acton  by  a  mysterious  messenger,  who  at  midnight  rode 
through   the  villages  and   the  lone  hamlets,  warning  the 
inmates  to  "up,  and  to  arm!"     Among  the  first  to  respond 
was  the  minute  company,  which  reported  in  Captain  Davis' 
dooryard  early  on  the  morning  of  the  igth,  and  received 
from    the   faithful   commander   the   assurance  that   when 
a   sufficient   number  of   men    arrived    he    would   march. 
About   seven   o'clock,    the   requisite    number   had   come, 
and  Davis  gave  the  word  to  start,  after  declaring  that  they 
had  a  right  to  go  to  Concord  on  the  king's  highway  and 
that  they  would  do  so  at  all  hazards.     No  sooner  had  the 
order  to  march  been  given  than  Luther  Blanchard  sent  out 
on  the  cool  crisp  air  the  notes  of  "The  White  Cockade," 
and  they  were  off.     Little  is  related  in  history  of  the  short, 
quick  journey  to  Concord  North  bridge,  but  it  is  quite 
probable  that  when  the  little  band  was  away  they  sped 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  17 

with  flying  feet  to  the  time  of  their  own  quickened  heart 
throbbings;  and  that  it  was  only  now  and  then  as  they 
slackened  their  pace  at  some  rising  ground  that  Luther  re- 
sumed fifing;  but  when  he  and  his  comrades  caught  a 
glimpse  in  the  distance  of  the  North  bridge,  and  of  the 
companies  from  the  neighboring  towns,  we  may  suppose 
there  was  a  call  for  music,  and  that  Luther  Blanchard  and 
Drummer  Barker  did  their  best;  and  that  the  strains  com- 
ing from  afar  were  to  those  waiting  Middlesex  militia  men 
already  assembled  at  Concord,  like  the  sound  of  the  High- 
landers' slogan  at  Lucknow,  which  long  before  the  musicians 
were  in  sight  told  of  the  approach  of  friends.  After  the 
meeting  of  the  Provincials  near  Major  Buttrick's,  there  was 
a  hurried  consultation  of  the  officers  relative  to  what  should 
be  done  and  who  should  do  it.  While  this  consultation  was 
going  on,  smoke  arose  in  the  distance  indicating  that  Con- 
cord village  was  burning,  and  almost  simultaneously,  a 
small  detachment  of  Regulars  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Gould  began  taking  up  the  bridge  planks  to  keep  the  Con- 
tinentals from  going  to  the  rescue.  At  this  juncture  of 
affairs  came  a  crisis,  and  British  power  in  America  began 
to  tremble,  for  there  was  one  and  he  the  youngest  of  those 
commanders,  who  did  not  fear  to  strike  down  England's 
arrogance  there  where  it  was  asserting  itself,  and  declared 
that  "he  had  not  a  man  who  was  afraid  to  follow  him." 
Then  came  the  order  to  march,  and  Captain  Davis  was 
again  on  the  move,  and  Luther  Blanchard  again  struck  the 
tune  of  "The  White  Cockade,"  and  down  they  descended 
the  highway  by  the  meadow  margin  sternly  determined 
upon  work,  but  with  orders  not  to  fire  till  they  were  fired 
upon.  What  a  scene  was  there  presented ;  the  sun  shining 


l8  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

with  exceptional  brightness,  nature  dressing  herself  in  gay 
attire,  the  birds  caroling  sweetly  in  the  meadow,  and  each 
with  Luther  as  in  one  grand  matinee"  endeavoring  to  enli- 
ven the  eventful  hour.  Yes,  all  was  exceptional,  the  march, 
the  music,  the  men ;  but  there  was  to  be  one  thing  more 
to  complete  the  effect,  and  that  was  the  firing  of  "The 
shot  heard  round  the  world."  Soon  it  came.  As  the  com- 
pany drew  nearer  the  river  bank,  the  Regulars,  fearing  they 
would  be  upon  them  before  the  bridge  could  be  dismantled, 
fired  a  volley.  As  there  was  at  first  no  visible  effect  pro- 
duced it  was  supposed  that  only  blank  cartridges  had  been 
fired,  or  that  the  enemy  had  aimed  their  guns  into  the  air. 
But  to  make  sure  that  the  shots  were  harmless,  Captain 
Davis  asked  his  company  if  balls  were  fired,  whereupon 
Luther  Blanchard  exclaimed,  "Yes,  for  one  has  struck  me." 
This  was  enough  for  Davis  to  know,  for  the  invaders  had 
shown  themselves  murderous;  and  word  was  immediately 
given  to  fire.  As  Davis  was  raising  his  gun  to  take  aim,  the 
Regulars  fired  again  and  he  fell,  shot  through  the  heart. 
Almost  simultaneously  there  fell  near  him  Abner  Hosmer, 
who  was  shot  through  the  head.  So  opened  the  action  of 
that  fateful  morning. 

As  the  general  causes  that  contributed  to  the  conflict 
at  Concord  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  readers  of  Ameri- 
can history,  it  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  consider  them  in 
detail,  however  interesting  they  might  be  as  incidentally 
related  to  the  crowning  act  in  the  life  of  Luther  Blanchard 
and  his  brave  compatriots ;  but  it  may  be  appropriate, 
before  following  further  the  fortunes  of  our  hero,  to  briefly 
give  the  outline  of  some  of  them. 

The  conflict  at  the  North  bridge  was  occasioned  by 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  19 

the  culmination  or  result  of  several  events,  all  of  which 
were  incidental  to  the  general  plan  of  Colonel  Smith,  who 
had  charge  of  the  English  forces,  to  march  to  Con- 
cord, and  destroy  what  military  stores  were  found  there 
and  perhaps  capture  Colonel  James  Barrett  As  at  Lex- 
ington, it  was  probably  no  part  of  an  original  design  to 
slay  any  of  the  inhabitants  nor  to  destroy  private  property, 
unless  in  furtherance  of  the  general  plan.  But  events  con- 
spired to  convince  the  English  commander  that  the  Con- 
tinentals contemplated  resistance,  and  he  took  precautions 
to  meet  it;  which  precautions  precipitated  the  encounter 
at  the  bridge.  According  to  the  best  information  from 
sources  both  English  and  American,  the  main  facts  in  the 
case  are  as  follows  : 

After  the  massacre  at  Lexington,  which  occurred 
about  sunrise,  the  Regulars  proceeded  to  Concord,  not 
perhaps  without  some  misgivings  as  to  the  day's  results, 
since  the  assembled  militia  men  and  the  slaughter  of  some 
of  them  was  doubtless  suggestive  of  an  aroused  condition 
of  the  country.  On  the  arrival  about  seven  o'clock  at 
Concord  village,  Colonel  Smith  and  Major  Pitcairn  took 
their  position  in  the  hillside  burying  ground,  where  they 
could  survey  operations,  disposing  of  their  troops  as  fol- 
lows :  Captain  Mundy  Pole  of  the  tenth  regiment  with 
about  one  hundred  men  was  sent  to  the  South  bridge  ; 
Captain  Lawrence  Parsons  with  six  companies  of  infantry, 
consisting  of  about  three  hundred  men,  was  sent  northerly, 
towards  the  Colonel  Barrett  neighborhood;  the  remainder 
of  the  force,  consisting  of  four  or  five  hundred  men,  was 
retained  as  a  reserve  or  body  guard  in  Concord  village. 
Of  the  forces  sent  northerly,  three  companies  with  Captain 


20  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

Parsons  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  Colonel  Barrett  to 
destroy  public  stores;  while  three  were  left,  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Lawrie,  near  the  North  bridge,  perhaps 
with  the  two-fold  purpose  of  keeping  open  a  way  of  retreat 
for  Captain  Parsons,  and  of  preventing  any  Provincial 
soldiers  from  destroying  the  bridge.  Of  the  three  com- 
panies under  Captain  Lawrie  left  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
bridge,  two  straggled  off,  or  scattered  about,  leaving  only 
one,  and  that  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Edward 
Thornton,  to  guard  the  bridge. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Americans  from  neighboring 
towns  were  assembling  at  Punkatassett  hill,  northerly  of 
the  river,  where  were  already  stationed  some  of  the  Con- 
cord, Acton,  and  Lincoln  men,  who  under  command  of 
Captain  George  Minot,  had  rendezvoused  at  that  place  upon 
the  near  approach  of  the  Regulars  to  Concord  village. 
About  ten  o'clock,  while  Captain  Parsons'  men  were 
engaged  in  mischievous  work  at  Colonel  Barrett's,  burning 
gun  carriages,  the  Provincials,  having  been  joined  by  the 
Acton  minute  company,  marched  from  Punkatassett  along 
the  highway  to  Major  Buttrick's,  which  was  about  forty 
rods  from  the  North  bridge.  Here  the  consultation  of 
officers  before  referred  to  took  place;  the  result  of  which 
was  the  forward  movement  of  the  Acton  minute  company, 
followed  by  all  the  others,  the  firing,  the  wounding  of 
Luther  Blanchard,  and  the  killing  of  Davis  and  Hosmer. 
The  fire  was  returned  by  the  Americans,  and  several  of  the 
English  soldiers  fell,  either  wounded  or  killed. 

After  this  firing,  there  is  little  or  no  evidence  of  hos- 
tilities on  either  side  for  more  than  an  hour.  Lieutenant 
Gould  and  his  guard  at  once  betook  themselves  to  the 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  21 

village.  Three  signal  guns  were  fired  by  the  British  at  the 
village  to  call  in  the  various  detachments,  all  of  which  soon 
joined  the  main  body,  which  about  twelve  o'clock  began  its 
march  back  to  Boston,  carrying  with  them  their  wounded 
in  vehicles  confiscated  for  the  purpose.  Meanwhile,  the 
Provincials,  who  had  been  reinforced  by  a  minute  and 
militia  company  from  Sudbury,  commanded  by  Captains 
Haynes  and  Nixon,  hurried  across  the  fields  to  the  easterly 
of  Concord  village;  and  upon  their  arrival  at  the  Lexington 
road,  awaited  the  coming  of  the  British  regiments,  which 
soon  hove  in  sight.  Then  commenced  that  famous  wayside 
warfare,  which  was  kept  up  with  such  disastrous  results  to 
the  English  troops  until  they  arrived  in  Charlestown.  The 
spot  where  the  Acton  minute-men  stood  at  the  time  of  the 
firing  is  probably  a  few  rods  to  the  rear  of  the  statue  of  the 
"Minute-Man."  Judge  John  S.  Keyes  locates  the  spot 
where  Davis  fell,  as  at  or  about  the  place  where  at  the 
present  time  a  small  bushy  apple  tree  is  standing.  This  is 
probably  correct.  That  it  is  no  nearer  the  bridge  may  per- 
haps be  inferred  from  the  following  reasons:  ist.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  supposed  that  the  Regulars  would  allow  the 
Americans  to  come  nearer  before  firing,  if  they  fired  at  all. 
2d.  If  the  opposing  forces  had  been  nearer  together,  it  is 
probable  that  the  loss  would  have  been  greater  on  both  sides. 
3d.  It  has  been  stated  by  good  authority,  that  the  shot 
that  hit  Luther  Blanchard  was  fired  when  the  Americans 
were  within  ten  or  fifteen  rods  of  the  bridge.  This  would 
place  his  company  on  that  portion  of  the  causeway  over  the 
meadow  land,  which  tradition  informs  us  had  stepping 
stones  placed  along  its  edge,  to  enable  foot  travelers  to  pass 
the  road  to  the  bridge  at  high  water.  It  was  upon  one  of 


22  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

these  stepping  stones  that  Captain  Davis  is  said  to  have 
fallen,  when,  after  being  struck  by  the  bullet,  he  leaped  into 
the  air  and  fell  first  upon  a  stone  and  then  upon  the  moist 
ground.  Although  nearly,  if  not  all  traces  of  the  old  cause- 
way to  the  bridge  have  disappeared,  it  is  gratifying  that  the 
adjacent  meadow  beyond  the  "  Minute-Man  "  enclosure,  and 
the  site  of  the  old  roadway,  probably,  remain  nearly  as  they 
did  of  old,  and  that  the  hand  of  man  in  its  attempt  at  art 
has  not  yet  by  its  would  be  embellishment  quite  obliterated 
the  spot  where  Luther  Blanchard  was  hit,  and  Captain  Davis 
and  Private  Hosmer  fell.  Still  the  frosts  and  the  evening 
damps  creep  over  the  moist  intervale ;  still  the  blackbird 
and  bobolink  sing  there ;  still  the  floods  rise  and  fall,  and 
spring  as  laughingly  trips  over  the  turf  as  when  that 
strange,  strange  scene  was  enacted  long  ago. 

But  sufficient  has  been  given  of  the  history  of  the  day 
and  its  events  in  their  more  general  features,  and  we  will 
now  resume  our  narrative  in  its  closer  relations  to  the  sub- 
ject of  our  sketch. 

After  Luther  Blanchard  was  hit  by  the  musket  ball  at 
the  bridge,  he  went  to  the  house  of  Humphry  Barrett  to 
have  the  wound  bandaged,  and  later  with  the  other  Pro- 
vincials pursued  the  ministerial  troops  to  Boston,  fifing 
along  the  way.  Tradition  states,  that  after  arriving  at 
Cambridge,  he  went  into  a  hospital  in  one  of  the  Harvard 
College  buildings  and  shortly  after  died  there  from  the 
effect  of  this  wound.  But  we  think  that  tradition,  which 
sometimes  may  claim  too  much,  does  not  in  this  case 
claim  enough;  for  the  evidence  of  record  is  that  Luther 
Blanchard  like  many  others,  who  so  ardently  beat  back  the 
British  battalion  from  Concord,  enlisted  for  the  siege  of 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL.  23 

Boston  which  immediately  followed,  and  that  he  was  pres- 
ent at  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  June  i/th,  and  died  the 
September  following.  If  this  is  the  case,  then  a  new  leaf 
is  added  to  the  laurels  that  are  already  so  thickly  entwined 
about  the  name  and  fame  of  Luther  Blanchard.  And  so 
consequential  is  it  to  his  memory,  that  a  brief  outline  of  the 
evidence  is  given  for  the  reader's  consideration. 

ist.  On  the  24th  or  25th  of  April,  about  twenty-two 
of  the  Acton  soldiers  enlisted  for  the  siege  of  Boston,  and 
were  placed  with  some  Lincoln  soldiers  in  a  company  that 
was  commanded  by  Captain  William  Smith  of  Lincoln, 
and  assigned  to  the  regiment  of  Colonel  John  Nixon. 

2d.  Among  the  men  in  Captain  Smith's  company 
accredited  to  Acton,  is  the  name  of  Luther  Blanchard. 

3d.  We  have  not  seen  it  claimed  that  there  were  two 
by  this  name  from  the  town  of  Acton. 

4th.  Captain  Smith  returned  to  the  Provincial  author- 
ities the  name  of  Luther  Blanchard  on  his  pay-roll. 

5th.  There  is  a  tradition,  that  while  Calvin  Blanchard 
was  absent  in  the  expedition  that  went  to  Canada  through 
the  wilds  of  Maine,  under  the  command  of  General  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  his  brother  died  and  was  buried. 

6th.  The  expedition  of  Arnold  set  forth  from  Cam- 
bridge in  September  1775,  and  was  absent  several  months. 

7th.  The  wound  received  at  the  Concord  North 
bridge  was  apparently  at  the  time  not  considered  a  severe 
one;  judging  from  the  fact  that  it  was  not  known  that  any- 
one was  hit,  until  it  was  reported  by  Luther  Blanchard  in 
reply  to  the  inquiry  of  Captain  Davis,  whether  the  British 
fired  bullets,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  he  could  follow 
the  Regulars  to  Charlestown. 


24  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

8th.  Luther  Blanchard's  name  is  on  a  receipt  dated 
July  7,  1775.  This  was  for  bounty  due  on  account  of  ser- 
vices in  Captain  Smith's  company,  Colonel  John  Nixon's 
regiment.  This  signature  is  supposed  to  be  his  autograph. 
Coat  Rolls.  Eight  months'  service.  State  Archives,  vol. 
35,  page  62. 

9th.  The  name  of  Luther  Blanchard,  with  rank  of 
Corporal,  is  on  the  muster  roll  of  Captain  Smith's  company, 
Colonel  Nixon's  regiment,  August  i,  1775.  Date  of  enlist- 
ment April  24,  1775.  Time  of  service,  three  months,  fif- 
teen days.  Belonged  in  Acton.  This  was  an  order  for 
advanced  pay,  dated  Cambridge,  July  7,  1775. 

loth.  Luther  Blanchard,  with  rank  of  Corporal,  is  on 
company  return  of  Captain  Smith's  company,  Colonel 
Nixon's  regiment.  Dated  Sept.  30,  1775.  Belonged  to 
Acton.  Reported  dead.  Coat  Rolls.  Eight  months'  ser- 
vice. State  Archives,  vol.  56,  page  28. 

Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  for  belief,  that  the 
youthful  fifer  was  on  the  first  two  battlefields  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and  that  while  enlisted  for  the  siege  of 
Boston,  and  after  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  he  died  at  the 
Harvard  College  hospital. 

After  the  stirring  scenes  of  April  iQth,  the  college 
buildings  were  thrown  open  to  be  used  as  barracks  for  the 
soldiers,  and  continued  so  to  be  used  until  after  the  evacua- 
tion of  Boston,  March  17,  1776,  when  the  American  army 
went  to  New  York.  As  it  was  used  for  a  barrack,  it  might 
if  needed,  be  used  as  a  hospital. 

It  was  quite  natural,  that  the  Acton  minute-men  should 
enlist  for  the  seige  of  Boston  in  a  company  that  belonged 
to  the  regiment  of  Colonel  John  Nixon,  for  Colonel  Nixon 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  25 

was  a  citizen  of  the  neighboring  town  of  Sudbury,  and  one  of 
the  Sudbury  companies  was  also  of  his  regiment.  During 
the  summer  that  followed  the  Concord  fight,  this  regiment 
was  quartered  at  Winter  Hill,  now  in  the  city  of  Somerville. 

Before  passing,  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  if 
Luther  Blanchard  did,  as  is  indicated,  share  in  the  battle 
of  June  17,  he  was  in  a  regiment,  and  at  a  place  first  in  im- 
portance and  peril  of  any  in  that  terrible  conflict,  which,  a 
recent  English  author  has  stated,  was,  in  proportion  to  its 
duration  and  the  number  engaged,  one  of  the  fiercest  and 
most  sanguinary  of  history. 

The  regiment  of  Colonel  John  Nixon  was  between  the 
redoubt  on  the  hill  summit  and  the  river  Mystic,  which 
was  held  by  Colonel  Stark  of  the  New  Hampshire  militia, 
and  was  only  protected  by  a  few  fence  rails  and  a  little 
newly  mown  hay;  yet,  it  was  defended  in  a  manner  that 
was  most  masterly,  and  the  Regiment  was  one  of  the  last 
to  leave  the  field. 

And  now  as  we  have  been  tracing  the  short  soldier 
career  of  Luther  Blanchard,  let  us  pause  and  reflect  upon 
the  service  that  he  rendered  to  his  country  as  a  fifer.  The 
simple  music  of  the  fife  and  snare  drum  was,  in  those  times, 
considered  very  consequential  on  all  military  occasions,  and 
to  begin  a  march  or  engage  in  battle  without  them  would, 
doubtless,  have  been  thought  disadvantageous. 

"The  pomp  and  panoply  of  glorious  war"  had  not 
then  become  obsolete;  the  gilt  epaulet  and  the  plumed 
military  hat  for  the  officers,  and  martial  music  were  still 
in  use.  The  fifer  and  drummer  were  then  very  essential, 
and  might  turn  the  scale  in  a  crisis.  Their  place  was  near 
the  head  of  the  column,  and  it  was  here  that  we  find 


26  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

our  youthful  hero  in  those  moments  that  tried  men's  souls. 
Young  Luther  Blanchard  is  described  as  at  the  head  of  the 
column  when  it  marched  down  the  little  cottage  lane  from 
the  Davis  door-yard,  and  we  first  hear  of  him  as  sending 
forth  strains  on  that  eventful  spring  morning. 

If  ever  that  little  company  needed  the  stimulus  that 
might  come  from  his  fife  it  was  at  the  start.  For  aught 
Davis  and  his  comrades  knew,  they  were  going  to  Concord 
alone.  Communications  had  not  come  to  them  as  to  what 
others  were  on  the  way.  They  were  leaving  father  and 
mother,  children  and  home,  to  face  a  merciless  enemy,  who 
might  kill  or  capture  as  best  suited  them.  Naturally,  then, 
a  shadow  might  have  crept  through  that  early  sunlight,  and 
the  undertone  of  their  deep  apprehensions  might  have  been 
louder  than  the  sweet  carol  of  the  robin  in  the  wayside 
apple  trees.  But  there  was  one  to  cheer  up  their  spirits, 
however  much  they  might  droop  ;  and,  as  young  Luther 
stepped  at  the  head  of  the  little  brave  band,  and  Francis 
Barker  took  his  place  beside  him,  the  sharp,  piercing  notes 
of  that  fife,  now  rising  and  falling,  now  rolling  and  ming- 
ling with  the  rat-a-tat-tat  and  the  whiz  and  the  whirr  of  the 
kettle-drum,  doubtless  drove  back  dismal  forebodings  and 
lightened  each  heavy  footstep,  so  that  when  the  great  road 
was  reached  every  man  was  in  a  mood  for  double-quick. 
As  the  Acton  minute-men  came  into  Concord  territory,  the 
music  of  their  bold  fifer  was  again  brought  into  practical 
requisition,  when  they  met,  a  short  distance  from  the  North 
bridge,  on  the  way  to  Major  Buttrick's,  militia  and 
minute-men  from  the  towns  of  Bedford,  Chelmsford, 
Carlisle,  Littleton,  Westford,  Billerica,  and  Stow.  These 
men  had  been  rendezvoused  in  the  neighborhood  of 


hj 

(X 

Z 

CL 

O 

u 

UJ 
H 

Z. 

S 

Z 

o 

H 
U 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  27 

Colonel  James  Barrett,  about  two  miles  from  Concord  meet- 
ing-house, where  three  companies  of  British  Regulars,  under 
command  of  Captain  Lawrence  Parsons,  were  destroying 
military  stores  and  gun-carriages.  This  meeting  is  graphi- 
cally related  by  Frederic  Hudson  in  Harper  s  Magazine, 
May,  1875  :  "  On  their  arrival  at  the  cross-roads,  they  were 
met  by  the  Acton  minute-men,  Captain  Isaac  Davis.  This 
company,  about  forty  in  number,  came  by  the  strawberry 
hill  road  till  they  reached  the  rear  of  Colonel  Barrett's 
residence.  They  halted  there  for  a  short  time,  to  observe 
the  movements  of  the  detachment  of  the  enemy  searching 
the  house.  Then,  partly  by  a  cross-road,  and  partly  over 
the  fields  north  of  Barrett's  mills,  they  marched  by  a  quick 
step,  the  fife  and  drum  playing  'The  White  Cockade,'  in 
nearly  a  straight  course  to  the  Widow  Brown's  tavern. 
Thence  they  took  the  north  road  to  the  high  land,  where 
they  met  Major  Buttrick  and  his  men." 

Again,  when  at  Major  Buttrick's,  by  the  North  bridge, 
after  careful  consultation,  the  continental  officers  decided 
that  the  bridge  should  be  saved,  and  that  if  Concord  village 
were  burning  they  should  rescue  it.  Then  we  read  that  as 
the  Acton  minute-men  faced  from  the  right,  Luther 
Blanchard  and  John  Buttrick,  the  young  fifers,  playing 
"  The  White  Cockade,"  advanced  to  the  scene  of  action,  and 
placed  themselves  in  an  exposed  position  in  the  rough,  nar- 
row highway.  Could  the  music  of  that  moment  have  been 
other  than  an  inspiration  to  those  minute-men  to  live  by  or 
to  die  by  ?  Whether  it  were  so  or  not  the  yeoman  soldiery 
rushed  on  to  the  uncertain  conflict,  nor  did  the  fray  long 
cease,  till  there  was  left  no  foeman  beyond  the  protection 
of  the  English  warships  at  Boston.  But  not  only  in  the 


a 8  LUTHER   BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

Davis  dooryard  and  at  the  North  bridge,  was  there 
occasion  for  inspiring  the  Provincial  soldiers  by  the  stir- 
ring strains  of  Blanchard's  fife  and  Barker's  drum,  but 
here  and  there  along  the  line  of  the  British  retreat  were 
sharp  skirmishes,  when  the  Regulars,  too  hard  pressed  by 
their  persistent  pursuers,  would  face  about  and  try  to  check 
them  by  momentary  conflict.  Easily  may  we  suppose,  that 
at  such  times,  the  bold  musicians  would  improve  the  oppor- 
tunity as  they  stood  with  their  leaders  on  the  very  firing 
line,  and  threw  out  into  the  smoke-begrimmed  atmosphere 
the  few  simple  tunes  that  they  knew.  And  so,  along  the 
entire  course  from  Concord,  as  the  English  hosts  made 
their  wild  rush  in  retreat,  fighting,  faltering,  falling,  above 
the  loud  shouts  of  the  hastening  multitude,  mingling  with 
the  dim  and  the  dust,  the  cheers  of  the  living  and  the 
groans  of  the  dying,  might  the  strains  of  the  fifer  be  heard ; 
and  when  at  Lexington,  Earl  Percy  with  his  two  field 
pieces  came  up  to  reinforce  the  returning  Regulars,  and 
afforded  a  little  respite  to  the  combatants  on  both  sides, 
we  may  suppose  again  that  there  was  a  "  band  concert " 
and  that  Luther  Blanchard,  John  Buttrick,  and  Caleb 
Brown,  fifer  of  the  Sudbury  minute-men,  and  other  fifers, 
who  were  doubtless  there,  played  together  the  tune  of  "The 
White  Cockade,"  in  a  way  that  made  the  combatants  almost 
forget  their  weariness,  and  grow  impatient  to  renew  the 
strife.  The  fifers  were  among  the  first  to  be  summoned 
and  among  the  first  to  respond.  At  Lexington,  Jona- 
than Harrington,  the  fifer  of  the  militia  company  there, 
was  aroused  by  his  patriotic  mother  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  as  she  shouted,  "Jonathan,  you  must 
get  up!  The  Regulars  are  coming,  something  must  be 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  29 

done ! "  At  Concord,  Major  John  Buttrick,  when  the 
alarm  reached  him,  called  his  son  John,  a  boy  only  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  a  fifer  in  Captain  Brown's  minute  com- 
pany, exclaiming  as  he  did  so,  "John,  the  bells  are  a  ring- 
ing. Jump  up !  Load  your  pistols,  take  your  fife,  we'll 
start  immediately  for  the  village."  The  father  and  the 
mother  did  not  hesitate  to  call  the  son.  War's  rude  alarm 
had  reached  them.  To  the  sound  of  the  tocsin  the  clan 
was  giving  ready  response,  and  the  piper  should  not  be 
away.  But  those  drum  beats  are  over,  and  the  fifer  and 
his  fife  are  silent.  The  grand  procession  of  that  day  so 
ill-starred  to  Great  Britain,  and  all  glorious  to  America, 
has  ended  its  march.  The  years,  the  fast  gathering  years 
have  brought  havoc  alike  to  either  combatants.  Nature 
still  holds  to  her  courses,  but  man  and  his  works  have 
changed.  The  quiet  cattle  graze  in  the  fields  and  pasture 
places,  from  which  the  Provincials  once  poured  their 
destructive  fire.  The  same  river  moves  purling  along  on 
its  gentle  way,  but  it  flows  no  longer  beneath  its  ancient 
archway. 

"  The  foe  long  since  in  silence  slept ; 
Alike  the  conqueror  silent  sleeps ; 
And  Time  the  ruined  bridge  has  swept 

Down  the  dark  stream  which  seaward  creeps." 

As  we  have  now  described  the  start,  the  arrival  at  the 
North  bridge,  and  the  service  rendered  by  the  youthful 
fifer,  our  narrative  might  not  be  considered  complete  with- 
out a  description  of  the  route  taken  by  Luther  Blanchard's 
company,  and  a  tracing  of  that  memorable  march.  This 


30  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

object  we  can  best  accomplish,  perhaps,  by  quoting  from 
the  sketch  of  Acton  history,  written  by  Rev.  James  Fletcher, 
and  published  in  the  Middlesex  County  History,  1890,  Vol. 
II.,  page  255  :  "It  was  a  bright,  genial  morning.  The  sun 
was  up  at  a  good  cheery  height  of  an  hour  and  a  half.  The 
birds  were  chanting  the  very  best  songs  of  the  opening 
spring.  The  men  were  drawn  up  in  line.  The  captain  at 
last  gave  the  word  "  march."  Luther  Blanchard,  the  fifer, 
and  Francis  Barker,  the  drummer,  struck  at  once  the  stir- 
ring notes  of  the  '  White  Cockade,'  and  forward  they  moved 
with  a  quick,  brave  step.  They  soon  reached  the  home- 
stead of  Parson  Swift.  They  could  not  wait  for  the  greet- 
ings or  the  partings  of  the  good  man,  but  on  they  pressed, 
with  their  faces  set  for  Mother  Concord.  They  moved 
along  over  the  old  and  only  road  leading  from  the  present 
site  of  Deacon  W.  W.  Davis"  crossing  in  a  straight  line 
through  to  the  meeting-house  on  the  'knoll.'  The  road 
struck  the  other  road  just  below  Dr.  Cowdry's  barn,  where 
now  stands  Deacon  John  Fletcher's  barn,  just  relocated  by 
Moses  Taylor,  Esq.  The  old  road-bed  was  found  when  re- 
cently digging  the  cellar  for  the  barn. 

"They  could  not  stop  for  the  silent  benedictions  of  the 
old  church,  but  the  prayers  and  blessings  of  the  pastor  they 
could  hear,  and  marched  all  the  faster  for  the  memory.  The 
handkerchiefs  waving  from  the  Brooks  tavern  doors  and 
windows  helped  the  thrill  of  the  hour.  Down  the  hills 
they  moved  by  the  present  site  of  Mr.  McCarthy,  up  the 
ascent  to  the  right,  over  the  heights  on  the  road  path,  now 
closed,  but  still  a  favorite  walk  down  the  hill,  across  the 
Revolutionary  bridge,  west  of  Horace  Hosmer's  present 
site,  the  road  leading  by  the  spot  where  the  elms  south  of 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  31 

his  house  now  stand.  Up  the  hill  they  hasten  and  turn  to 
the  right,  going  by  Mr.  Hammond  Taylor's  present  resi- 
dence, the  old  Brabrook  homestead,  on  the  south  side, 
which  was  then  the  front  side,  the  road  on  the  north  being 
a  comparatively  new  opening ;  there  they  left  the  main 
road,  struck  through  the  woods,  taking  a  bee  line  to  their 
destined  point.  After  passing  the  woods,  the  march  is  by 
the  Nathan  Brooks  place,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mr. 
H.  F.  Davis.  The  passage  then  was  by  the  nearest  way 
to  Barrett's  Mills,  as  then  called,  not  far  from  the  North 
bridge." 

After  arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  Barrett's  Mills,  they 
marched  partly  by  a  cross-road,  and  partly  over  a  field,  as 
has  already  been  stated,  in  a  nearly  direct  line  to  the 
Widow  Brown's  tavern,  and  from  thence  they  took  the 
high  land,  where  they  met  Major  Buttrick  and  his  men, 
as  before  described. 

While  on  the  march,  they  went  in  files  of  two  abreast. 
When  they  arrived  at  Widow  Brown's  tavern,  they  are  de- 
scribed as  going  rapidly.  Charles  Handley  stated  in  a  de- 
position, that,  at  the  time  of  the  Concord  fight,  he  lived  at 
the  tavern  kept  by  the  Widow  Brown,  nearly  a  mile  north- 
west of  the  North  bridge,  and  saw  Captain  Davis'  company 
as  they  came  from  Acton.  "  I  first  saw  them  coming 
through  the  fields  north  of  Barrett's  Mills,  and  they  kept 
the  fields  till  they  came  to  the  road  at  Mrs.  Brown's  tavern. 
They  then  took  the  north  road  leading  to  the  bridge.  They 
marched  fast  to  the  music  of  a  fife  and  drum.  I  remember 
the  tune,  but  am  not  quite  sure  of  its  name.  I  think  it 
was  called  '  The  White  Cockade.' " 

In  the  same  double  file  they  marched  on  to  the  scene 


32  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

of  action  ;  for  after  the  halt  and  the  hurried  consultation  of 
officers,  before  described,  and  the  plan  to  immediately 
move  forward  to  the  bridge,  Captain  Davis  drew  his 
sword  and  ordered  his  men  to  advance  six  paces.  He  then 
faced  them  to  the  right,  and  then  to  the  step  of  his  favorite 
tune,  he  led  his  command  towards  the  foe. 

With  regard  to  their  further  course  and  what  trans- 
pired, the  historian  Bancroft  says  : 

"  The  calm  features  of  Isaac  Davis  became  changed. 
The  town  schoolmaster  could  never  afterwards  find  words 
strong  enough  to  express  how  his  face  reddened  at  the 
word  of  command;  *  *  *  they  went  down  the  hillside, 
entered  the  by-road,  came  to  its  angle  with  the  main  road, 
and  then  turned  into  the  causeway  that  led  straight  to  the 
bridge." 

What  next  occurred  has  already  been  related ;  firing 
followed.  Luther  Blanchard  was  hit  and  Davis  and  Hos- 
mer  fell.  Of  this  sad  sequal  of  that  eventful  march  of 
about  a  half  dozen  miles,  the  historian  last  quoted  says : 

"Three  hours  before,  Davis  had  bid  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren farewell;  that  afternoon  he  was  carried  home  and 
laid  in  her  bedroom.  His  countenance  was  little  altered, 
and  pleasant  in  death. 

"The  bodies  of  three  others  of  his  company,  who  were 
slain  that  day,  were  brought  also  to  her  home,  and  the 
three  were  followed  to  the  village  graveyard  by  a  concourse 
of  neighbors  for  miles  around." 

Before  leaving  the  part  of  our  subject  that  relates  to 
the  encounter,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  state  a  few  facts 
concerning  the  bridge  at  which  it  took  place. 

The  bridge  crossed  the  Concord  River  to  the  northerly 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  33 

of  the  village,  from  whence  its  name  the  "  North  bridge." 
It  was  long  since  demolished,  and  only  a  few  fragments, 
which  are  preserved  as  relics,  are  in  existence.  One  of 
these,  which  is  of  considerable  size,  is  in  possession  of 
John  S.  Keyes,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  who  has  placed  it  in  a 
conspicuous  position  in  the  ell  of  his  dwelling-house,  and 
near  a  bullet  hole,  which  was  made  by  one  of  the  retreat- 
ing Regulars.  As  the  ancient  highway  was  long  since  dis- 
continued, no  bridge  stood  on  the  spot  for  some  years. 
The  old  historic  structure  was  a  plain  one ;  and  doubtless 
no  poet's  license  was  taken  by  Emerson  when  he  said  : 

"  By  the  rude  bridge  that  arched  the  flood 
Their  flag  to  April's  breeze  unfurled." 

The  fragment  of  timber  at  the  Keyes  house  looks  old  and 
weather  worn,  and  as  if  it  were  of  oak  as  sturdy  as  the 
hearts  of  the  bold  farmers,  whose  hurrying  feet  once 
pressed  it. 

About  three  months  after  the  events  of  April  19,  1775, 
two  men,  Messrs.  Dolittle  and  Earle,  the  latter  having 
some  skill  or  fame  as  an  artist,  went  to  the  spot  and  made 
a  picture  of  the  bridge  and  its  locality.  And  although  not 
perfect  in  its  perspective,  yet  it  is  quite  probable  that  the 
bridge  being  simple  in  its  construction  looks  natural.  The 
northerly  bank  of  the  river  being  low  allowed  an  overflow 
of  the  water,  which  in  the  spring  and  fall  freshets  came 
nearly  up  to  the  causeway.  Since  the  year  1875,  when  the 
centennial  celebration  called  public  attention  to  this  locality, 
and  the  setting  apart  of  Patriots'  Day,  the  place  has  been 
on  April  igth,  as  a  modern  Mecca,  to  whose  shrine  devotees 
of  an  antiquary  taste,  as  well  as  those  led  thither  by  patri- 


34  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

otic  feeling,  have  made  their  pilgrimage,  and  left  their 
votive  offering  of  reflection  and  enthusiasm.  The  stream, 
that  ran  beneath  that  memorable  archway,  flows  through 
towns  each  one  of  which  contributed  its  quota  to  that 
April  conflict.  It  has  its  rise  in  Westboro  and  Hopkinton, 
both  of  which  sent  soldiers  on  the  Lexington  alarm,  and 
on  its  borders  are  Framingham,  Sudbury,  Lincoln,  Bed- 
ford, Carlisle,  Billerica  and  Chelmsford,  so  that  this  slug- 
gish stream,  which  the  Indians  called  Musketahquid  or 
Meadow  brook,  might  almost  be  called  the  river  of  the 
Revolution,  on  whose  banks  Freedom  had  its  birthplace 
and  from  which  a  waiting  world  received  benefits ;  for  as 
Whittier  has  said  in  his  verse  of  the  patriots  of  '75, 

"  Of  man  for  man  the  sacrifice 
Unstained  by  blood  save  theirs  they  gave 
The  flowers  that  blossomed  from  their  grave 
Have  sown  themselves  beneath  all  skies." 

• 

Beside  the  river,  and  hard  by  the  bridge  on  the  east- 
erly side,  is  the  grave  of  the  two  slain  Britains,  who  fell  in 
the  return  fire  of  the  minute  men  ;  and  who,  likewise,  were 
faithful  unto  death  ;  for,  doubtless,  they  also  thought  they 
died  doing  their  duty.  For  years,  the  low  mound  was 
grass  grown  and  gray,  and  utterly  forsaken  and  lone,  ful- 
filling well  the  description  of  the  burial  of  Sir  John  Moore. 

"And  the  foe  and  the  stranger  shall  tread  o'er  his  head, 
And  we  far  away  on  the  billow." 

At  length,  kindly  hands  planted  the  sheltering  pines,  and 
then  the  music  of  their  murmurings,  and  the  soft  ripple  of 
the  river  waves  made  a  melody  befitting  the  sepulchre  of 
sovereigns. 


H 
I 

W 

O 

t- 
a 


O 

*J 
H 
I 

03 

2 
a 

Q 
W 

O 

O 

z 

n 
O 
?o 
a 


DEDICATION  OF  THE 

BLANCHARD  MEMORIAL  STONE. 


III. 

The  dedication  of  the  Blanchard  Memorial  Stone  was 
upon  a  day  set  apart  by  the  citizens  of  Acton  for  exercises 
commemorative  of  the  battles  of  Concord  and  Lexington, 
and  of  the  going  forth  of  her  citizen  soldiery  to  the  open- 
ing events  of  both  the  Revolutionary  and  the  great  Civil 
War. 

It  was  "  Patriots'  Day"  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and 
almost  the  entire  population  of  the  town  of  Acton,  and  a 
large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Middlesex  County  were 
observing  it  as  a  gala  occasion,  and  signalizing  it  with 
appropriate  exercises. 

Simultaneous  with  the  Acton  celebration,  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Concord  was  engaged  in  memorial  services, 
and  never  since  the  one  hundreth  anniversary  of  the 
events  of  April  iQth,  1775,  at  which  President  Grant  was  a 
distinguished  guest  of  the  Commonwealth,  have  the  two 
historic  towns  been  so  astir,  or  entertained  a  like  number 
of  guests.  Besides  dedicatory  exercises  at  the  Blanchard 


36  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

Memorial,  there  were  exercises  at  two  other  historic  places, 
where  similar  monumental  stones  had  been  erected ;  one, 
near  the  site  of  the  Captain  Joseph  Robbins  farm-house,  the 
other  near  the  site  of  the  Captain  Isaac  Davis  house. 
Among  the  conspicuous  visitors  were  Governor  Green- 
halge,  Ex-Governor  Boutwell,  and  Colonel  William  M. 
Olin,  Secretary  of  State.  The  main  exercises  of  the  day 
were  at  the  centre  of  the  town,  where  a  large  tent  was 
spread,  in  which  several  addresses  were  made. 

It  was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  citizens  of 
Acton,  and  all  interested  in  the  scenes  and  events  of  old 
Middlesex;  and  the  new  holiday  was  appropriately  and  suc- 
cessfully entered  upon  the  calendar,  as  time,  that  by  statu- 
tory enactment  belongs  to  no  one  in  particular  but  to 
everyone  in  general. 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  Boston  Journal  of 
April  20,  1895: 

"The  little  town  of  Acton,  the  birthplace  of  the  fore- 
most heroes  of  both  the  Revolution  and  the  Civil  War,  was 
the  scene  of  the  greatest  celebration  of  Patriots'  Day,  the 
one  hundred  and  twentieth  anniversary  of  the  Concord 
fight. 

"  It  was  a  gala  day  for  the  cluster  of  pretty  villages, 
men,  women  and  children  all  leaving  their  homes  to  attend 
the  fete.  Flags  and  bunting  fluttered  to  the  breeze  on 
every  hand,  the  whole  town  being  dressed  in  its  best  for 
the  occasion. 

"  The  day  could  not  have  been  more  perfect.  It  was 
as  beautiful  a  morning  as  ever  dawned  in  the  uncertain 
month  of  April,  and  delightful  summer  zephyrs  fanned  the 
cheek,  while  a  kindly  sun  bathed  the  patriotic  scene  in  a 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  37 

golden  glow  of  sunshine.  Booming  cannon  and  pealing 
bells  aroused  the  town  at  sunrise.  The  celebration  was  a 
complete  success,  the  exercises  were  carried  out  without  a 
hitch,  and  all  Acton  was  happy  at  the  result,  while  the 
visitors  had  naught  to  say  but  words  of  unstinted  praise. 

"  The  crowd  was  a  big  one  for  so  small  a  town,  and 
the  hospitality  of  the  place  was  taxed  to  its  utmost,  yet 
there  was  room  for  all,  and  everybody  was  comfortably 
housed,  and  food  and  refreshment  was  as  plentiful  as  the 
air. 

"  With  the  arrival  of  the  first  train  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  the  stirring  music  of  two  bands  sounded 
out  on  the  quiet  air,  the  celebration  commenced,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  early  hours  of  this  morning,  when  the  last 
strains  of  waltz  music  at  the  grand  ball  had  ceased,  and 
the  last  dancers  sought  their  homes,  that  the  one  hundred 
and  twentieth  anniversary  of  the  Concord  fight  was  over, 
and  Acton  rested  from  her  fete. 

"  At  nine  o'clock  the  first  formal  exercises  of  the  day 
began,  when  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  headed  by 
Hon  Luther  Conant,  President  of  the  day,  met  at  the  rail- 
road station  to  welcome  and  receive  the  invited  guests  and 
other  visitors,  who  arrived  on  a  special  train. 

"Profuse  and  artistic  decorations  made  the  main  street 
one  line  of  waving  color.  The  most  conspicuous  point  in 
the  whole  town  was  the  seventy-five  foot  granite  monu- 
ment, which  towered  heavenward  like  an  obelisk,  while 
strings  of  streamers  and  flags  were  hung  on  all  sides  of  it. 
A  flagstaff  pierced  the  atmosphere  twenty-five  feet  above 
the  monument,  and  from  this  elevated  position  floated  the 
Stars  and  Stripes.  At  sunrise,  noon  and  sunset  the  bells 


38  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

pealed  and  the  cannon  boomed.  During  the  intervals  the 
bands  gave  concerts  on  the  common,  playing  patriotic  airs 
appropriate  to  the  occasion." 

THE  ROBB1NS  HOUSE  MEMORIAL. 

The  first  of  the  memorial  stones  dedicated  was  the 
one  erected  near  the  site  of  the  Captain  Joseph  Robbins 
house  at  East  Acton.  The  following  is  from  the  Boston 
Journal  of  the  date  before  mentioned  : 

"  Conspicuous  by  the  roadside,  about  half-way  from 
the  railroad  station  to  the  cemetery,  is  a  big  rough  boulder 
with  the  side  facing  the  highway  inscribed  : 

'"Site  of  house  where  first  alarm  was  given  in  Acton ! 
Morning  of  I9th  April,  1775.  Capt.  Robbins!  Capt. 
Robbins !  The  regulars  are  coming ! ' 

"  Hardly  a  single  farm-house  can  be  seen  from  this 
historic  spot.  The  graven  stone  stands  on  the  crest  of  a 
small  hill,  while  in  all  directions  extend  the  rough  stone 
walls  which  mark  the  boundaries  of  the  pastures  and  fields. 

"  Rev.  Franklin  Parker  Wood  of  Acton,  invoked  the 
divine  blessing,  and  Hon.  Luther  Conant,  President  of  the 
Day,  introduced  as  one  of  the  older  citizens,  whose  memory 
of  the  patriotic  days  was  still  fresh,  Mr.  Moses  Taylor, 
who  read  an  interesting  paper  in  regard  to  the  history  of 
the  spot. 

"On  the  iQth  of  April,  1775,  120  years  ago  today," 
began  the  speaker,  "  was  seen  a  company  of  Continental 
Militia  on  a  march  to  Concord  from  this  spot,  with  an 
order  from  a  horseman  about  3  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
whose  name  was  never  known,  going  at  full  speed  up  to 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  39 

this  house,  then  occupied  by  Capt.  Joseph  Robbins,  the 
commissioned  officer  in  the  town,  this  house  being  nearest 
to  the  North  Bridge,  and  struck  as  if  with  a  heavy  club,  as 
they  thought,  on  the  corner  of  the  house,  three  times,  not 
dismounting,  but  crying  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  '  Capt. 
Robbins!  Capt.  Robbins!  Up!  Up!  The  regulars  are 
coming  to  Concord  rendezvous  at  Old  North  Bridge. 
Quick  as  possible  alarm  the  citizens  of  Acton.' 

"  The  exercises  closed  with  the  dedication  and  prayer 
by  Rev.  Edward  G.  Porter  of  Dorchester." 

The  spot  where  this  stone  stands  is,  as  has  been 
stated,  an  exceptionally  secluded  one.  To  the  westerly  is 
that  little  city  of  the  dead,  ihe  town's  common  burying 
ground,  which  is  now  the  dwelling  place  of  all  that  is 
mortal  of  many  who  marched  on  that  memorable  occasion 
from  that  now  forsaken  door  yard,  in  response  to  the  mid- 
night rider,  who  rapped  at  the  Robbins  house,  while  but 
a  few  miles  to  the  easterly  is  the  place  of  the  encounter  at 
the  North  bridge;  to  the  northerly  and  southerly  are  quiet 
woods  and  pleasant  pasture  lands.  Surely  could  the  dead 
rise  from  their  honored  sepulchres,  we  might  expect  if  ever, 
they  would  do  it  here ;  and  that  the  precincts  of  that  lone 
homestead  site  would  again  be  thickly  peopled  by  the 
sturdy  yeomanry,  as  they  met  and  reported  as  of  yore  to 
their  commander,  "All  present  or  accounted  for."  But 

"  No  sound  can  awake  them  to  glory  again ; " 

and  the  curious  visitor  can  sit  undisturbed,  while  busy 
fancy  plays  with  the  past,  and  pushing  back  the  curtain  of 
intermediate  years,  takes  a  peep  at  Captain  Joseph  Robbins 
as  he  buckles  about  him  his  sword  belt  as  a  badge  of  com- 


40  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

mand,  but  perhaps  takes  down  his  fire-lock  for  service. 
Perhaps  before  he  starts  out  he  goes  to  a  broad  corner 
beaufet  and  snatches  a  morsel  for  his  scant  morning  meal, 
or  thrusts  the  "logger"  on  the  backlog  to  prepare  a  bowl 
of  warm  drink  of  some  sort.  But  the  beaufet  has  crumbled 
and  the  "logger  iron"  long  since  grew  cold,  and  all  that 
remains  of  what  stood  there  that  morning  is  in  melancholy 
ruin ;  and  the  winds,  the  sunbeams,  the  birds  and  bees 
have  the  place  all  to  themselves,  save  when  the  passing 
traveler  steps  reverently  to  read  and  reflect  upon  the 
inscription  on  this  new  votive  stone. 

From  the  site  of  the  Robbins  house,  the  company 
passed  to  Woodlawn  cemetery,  where  exercises  were  held. 
This  burial  place  contains  the  graves  of  many  revolutionary 
soldiers,  which  were  designated  by  small  flags.  One  inci- 
dent of  the  services  at  this  place  was  the  reading  by  Rev. 
F.  P.  Wood  from  a  bible  formerly  used  by  Rev.  John  Swift, 
Acton's  first  pastor. 

CALVIN  AND  LUTHER  BLANCHARD  MEMORIAL. 

From  the  cemetery,  the  company  proceeded  to  the 
site  of  the  Hosmer  house,  near  which  is  the  Blanchard  me- 
morial stone. 

The  exercises  here  consisted  mainly  of  an  address  by 
Rev.  W.  R.  Buxton,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church, 
South  Acton,  and  the  reading  of  an  historic  paper  by  Hon. 
Luther  Conant. 

ADDRESS. 

"Fellow-Citizens  from  Acton  and  visiting  friends  from 
elsewhere  : — 

We  are  met  together  this  morning  to  dedicate  this 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  41 

monument  to  the  memory  of  two  of  the  men  who  fought 
at  Concord. 

I  ask  you  to  turn  for  a  moment  from  the  livelier  side 
of  this  day's  celebration,  and  picture,  in  imagination,  the 
appearance  which  Acton  wore  just  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  ago  to-day.  There  then  lived  in  this  historic  town 
people  whose  hearts  were  filled  with  the  love  of  liberty, 
and  who  stood  in  dread  anxiety  concerning  the  future  of 
their  Massachusetts  Colony.  The  order  to  crush  any  in- 
cipient uprising  had  been  given  to  the  King's  officers,  and 
those  officers  were  already  not  far  from  this  vicinity  to 
carry  out  the  orders  which  they  had  received.  The  inevit- 
able had  long  been  expected.  The  patriots  of  this  portion 
of  Middlesex  had  slowly  but  surely  been  educating  fathers, 
mothers  and  children  to  a  real  understanding  of  the  issues 
involved  and  the  trend  which  events  were  rapidly  taking; 
and,  so  it  was  that  when,  on  April  iQth,  1775,  the  first 
blow  was  struck  by  the  enemy,  the  whole  of  Acton,  Con- 
cord, and  the  surrounding  settlements,  rose  up  as  one  man 
to  repel  the  invader.  Patriotism  was  not,  on  that  memor- 
able morning,  confined  to  any  special  place  or  family  in 
this  vicinity.  In  every  true  Acton  home  there  was  a  de- 
termination to  resist  the  aggressive  impertinence  of  the 
royalty  across  the  sea. 

Well,  now,  one  hundred  and  twenty  eventful  years  have 
gone  by  since  the  Concord  fight.  During  this  time  great 
changes  have  taken  place.  Gettysburg  and  Appomattox 
have  been  added  to  Concord  and  Bunker  Hill ;  tens  of 
thousands  of  brave  officers  and  soldiers  have  followed  the 
path  to  glory,  which  Captain  Davis  and  his  minute-men 
traveled ;  and,  yet,  our  reverence  and  admiration  for  the 


42  LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL. 

patriots  of  1775  do  but  increase  with  the  lapse  of  time. 
We  still  instinctively  turn,  at  every  approach  of  April 
I9th,  and  think  of  these  special  places  sacred  in  the  an- 
nals of  liberty,  and  of  these  particular  men  of  Acton  and 
Concord  who  took  part  in  that  earliest  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. Whatever  changes  have  taken  place  in  our 
great  country,  whatever  modification  our  ideas  of  liberty 
and  government  have  undergone  since  that  early  day, 
wheresoever  the  descendants  and  successors  of  fathers  of 
the  Revolution  meet  this  day  to  celebrate  their  deeds  and 
heroisms,  the  fact  is,  we  still  refer  back  to  the  men  who  did 
that  work  as  individuals,  and,  when  the  cause  of  the  Revo- 
lution is  mentioned,  however  freely  outsiders  may  indulge 
in  theories  and  abstractions,  the  people  who  now  dwell  in 
these  peaceful  towns,  the  descendants  of  the  men  who 
fought  in  that  glorious  war,  well  understand  that  the 
struggle  for  liberty  and  right  then  and  always  means  per- 
sonal sacrifice,  personal  devotion,  and  when  you  mention 
the  Concord  fight,  these  people  know  full  well  that  there 
was  a  fight — that  it  was  no  mock  battle  between  liberty  as 
an  abstraction  and  tyranny  as  an  abstraction,  that,  indeed, 
it  was  a  fight  to  the  death  between  liberty  and  tyranny  in- 
carnate in  persons,  and  that  that  struggle  meant  the  total 
surrender  of  personal  ambition  and  interests  and  lives. 

Now  I  want  to  tell  you  that  this  is  just  as  it  always 
must  be  with  people  having  sound  views  and  sane  senti- 
ments as  to  the  nature  of  this  ceaseless  struggle  for  better 
things.  For  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  honor  which  our 
country  is  accustomed  to  pay  to  the  memory  of  its  brave 
heroes  and  martyrs  ?  Certain  it  is  that  the  universal  in- 
stincts of  people  are  deeply  rooted  in  the  everlasting  depths 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  43 

of  good  sense  and  certain  it  is  that  when  the  citizens  of 
Acton  this  morning  instinctively  turn  to  do  honor  to  the 
memory  of  these  special  men  for  their  patriotic  services, 
there  is  a  feeling  that  the  glory  of  the  cause  which  those 
men  represented  at  the  old  North  bridge  was  not  to  be 
found  in  any  abstract  principle  or  hollow  theory,  that  in- 
deed the  principles  and  rights  for  which  these  men  fought 
appear  to  us  glorious  only  because  those  principles  and 
rights  were  realized  and  given  expression  in  true  hearts, 
patriotic  souls,  individual  men,  and  self-sacrificing  lives. 
Principle  or  right  when  not  expressed  in  personal  struggle 
is  of  no  more  consequence  to  the  world  than  is  the  latent 
electricity  that  is  stored  in  the  atmosphere  and  elements. 

Calvin  and  Luther  Blanchard  went  to  the  Concord 
fight  on  that  memorable  morning,  not  in  defense  of  any 
abstract  principle  of  which  they  felt  nothing.  Those  men's 
hearts  and  lives  were  the  human  batteries  in  which  the 
divine  electricity  of  liberty  was  generated  and  utilized.  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  as  they  went  to  Concord  with  Cap- 
tain Davis  and  their  fellow  patriots  they  feelingly  called  to 
mind  the  tragic  end  which  their  father  met  at  Quebec  when 
fighting  against  the  French  in  1759.  Doubtless  they  felt 
that  a  similar  fate  might  await  them  that  day.  It  is  this 
expression  of  right  and  principle  in  personal  sacrifice  and 
courage  that  impels  us  to  honor  them  as  individual  men. 
Wherever  a  minute-man  stood,  there  liberty  dared  to  ex- 
press itself  clearly  and  fearlessly,  and  there  no  disloyalty  to 
principle  could  come.  The  men  of  Acton  and  Concord 
had  flesh  and  blood  as  we  have,  and  let  us  rejoice  that  with 
that  flesh  and  blood  there  was  a  considerable  alloy  of  prin- 
ciple and  love  of  right  to  cast  a  halo  of  glory  about  their 
deeds. 


44  LUTHER    BLANCH ARD   MEMORIAL. 

With  what  spirit,  then,  shall  we  dedicate  this  plain 
monument  to  the  memory  of  these  two  Acton  patriots  of 
'75  ?  Ought  we  not  to  dedicate  it  in  the  same  spirit  with 
which  the  services  of  the  men  we  honor  were  rendered  at 
the  old  bridge  ?  Can  there  be  any  real  dedication  without 
the  feeling  that  these  men  were  true  to  country  and  gave 
their  lives  into  the  hands  of  God  to  be  used  at  that  special 
time  as  the  living  expression  and  defense  of  liberty,  so,  to 
make  this  ceremony  real  and  free  from  hypocrisy,  we  also 
are  to  present  our  own  individual  lives  to  God  to  be  used 
by  Him  as  the  vehicles  for  bringing  liberty  and  happiness 
to  our  countrymen  and  ourselves  ?  In  other  places  in  this 
town  our  fellow-citizens  will,  this  morning,  pay  a  similar 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  other  patriots  of  the  Revolution  ; 
but  our  special  duty  is  concerned  with  this  special  place, 
and  with  the  memory  of  these  particular  men.  We  dedi- 
cate this  monument  in  honor  of  these  two  men  who  were 
faithful  at  their  particular  posts  of  duty ;  and  we  will  ask 
the  Supreme  Author  of  liberty  that,  as  the  devotion  of 
these  two  patriots  involved  the  veritable  laying  down  of 
life  in  defence  of  right,  real  as  the  large  boulder  that  now 
stands  before  us,  so  may  you  and  I  put  into  our  work  the 
same  reality  that  was  in  their  work,  and  because  they  were 
men,  living  beings,  with  right  and  truth  incarnate  in  heroic 
lives,  let  this  monument  stand  here  and  tell  to  all  passers 
by  and  coming  generations,  that  the  defence  of  the  nation's 
liberties  and  institutions  is  secure  only  when,  in  obedience 
to  the  law  of  the  divine  incarnation,  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  people  are  given  an  anchorage  in  the  very  hearts  and 
lives  of  individual  men  and  women." 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  45 

HISTORIC  PAPER. 

"With  those  who  interest  themselves  in  the  research 
of  genealogy  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  a  distinguished 
pedigree  to  boast  of,  or  a  coat  of  arms  to  emblazon  their 
heraldry,  we  have  little  sympathy. 

"  But  when  we  find  a  man  who  is  willing  to  give  time 
and  money  to  ascertain  if  one  of  his  kindred  or  ancestors 
suffered  or  perished  in  some  great  cause,  and  whose 
memory  and  acts  are  passing  into  oblivion,  because  his- 
torians have  not  done  justice  to  his  services,  at  once  the 
act  commands  our  admiration  and  respect,  and  we  bow  to 
him  as  to  a  public  benefactor. 

"  From  this  farm  went  Calvin  and  Luther  Blanchard 
to  Concord  fight  and  Bunker  Hill,  sons  of  Simon  Blanch- 
ard, who  was  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Quebec,  1/59.  These 
young  men  were  learning  the  mason's  trade,  and  could  not 
claim  the  town  of  Acton  as  their  birthplace,  having  been 
born  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Boxboro. 

"  The  story  of  Luther  Blanchard,  fifer,  and  Francis 
Barker,  drummer,  taking  their  places  at  the  head  of  the 
line,  striking  up  the  tune  of  '  The  White  Cockade,'  in 
my  early  childhood,  strongly  appealed  to  my  imagination, 
and  I  never  visit  the  historic  ground  without  their  almost 
visably  appearing  before  me.  Luther  was  the  first  man 
hit  by  a  British  ball  at  the  Old  North  bridge  and  went  to 
the  house  of  Humphrey  Barrett  to  have  his  wound  band- 
aged. 

"On  the  24th  of  April,  five  days  after  the  Concord 
fight,  Luther  Blanchard,  together  with  fifteen  other  mem- 
bers of  Captain  Davis'  company,  enlisted  in  Captain  Will- 
iam Smith's  company  of  Lincoln,  Colonel  John  Nixon's 


46  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

Regiment,  and  was  at  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  After 
the  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  through  the 
generosity  of  one  of  his  kindred,  his  grandnephew,  Mr. 
Luke  Blanchard  of  Acton,  a  noble  memorial  has  been 
erected  to  his  memory. 

"This  place  has  now  become  one  of  Acton's  shrines, 
for  on  this  farm  dwelt  Abner  Hosmer,  who  was  killed  with 
Captain  Davis  at  the  old  North  Bridge. 

"The  other  brother,  Calvin,  was  a  member  of  the 
Westford  company  in  Colonel  William  Prescott's  Regiment. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  determination  and  physical  strength, 
both  of  which  qualities  came  into  great  prominence  on  such 
a  day  as  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  He  afterward  enlisted 
in  the  army  that  under  Arnold  made  an  attempt  to  capture 
Quebec  in  the  latter  part  of  1775,  where  his  father  was 
killed  sixteen  years  before." 

Rev.  E.  I.  Lindh,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  of 
West  Acton,  closed  the  exercises  with  the  dedicatory 
prayer. 

As  in  other  parts  of  this  publication  we  have  spoken 
of  this  memorial  stone,  it  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  observe 
further  about  it  here,  other  than  to  state  that  the  stone 
dedicated  marks  the  locality  of  a  homestead  from  which 
two  notable  persons  on  April  igth,  1775,  went  forth,  and 
from  which,  perhaps,  as  many  went  as  from  any  one  house 
to  the  Concord  fight.  For,  it  was  not  only  the  home  of 
Luther  Blanchard,  the  fifer,  and  Calvin,  his  brother,  but  of 
Abner  Hosmer  also,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  slain  at 
the  bridge.  The  old  house  was  demolished  many  years 
ago,  and  stood  on  the  very  spot  now  occupied  by  the  dwell- 
ing-house of  Herman  A.  Gould.  It  was  a  large  house,  up- 


X 

> 

2 

X 
G 
W 
Z. 

re 


o 

G 

Cfl 

w 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  47 

right  in  front,  with  a  lean-to  roof  on  the  back.  It  had  two 
rooms  in  front,  with  an  entry  between.  A  large  chimney 
was  midway  of  the  house.  The  back  chambers  were  low 
and  unfinished. 

Deacon  Jonathan  Hosmer,  the  father  of  Abner,  was 
the  first  settler  on  the  farm.  Nathan  Davis  Hosmer, 
grand-son  of  Deacon  Jonathan,  built  the  dwelling-house 
now  standing,  and  was  the  last  Hosmer  to  own  the  farm. 

But  as  the  house  and  the  boys  who  went  from  it,  so  the 
worthy  owner  of  the  house  at  that  time,  Deacon  Hosmer, 
should  have  due  recognition  for  the  part  he  performed  in 
the  grand  play.  The  contribution  of  so  many  members  of 
his  household  to  attend  the  frequent  drill  meetings,  that  pre- 
ceded April  1 9th,  required  considerable  time,  and  may  have 
caused  much  interruption.  The  meetings  were  held  about 
twice  a  week,  from  November,  1774,  to  April,  1775,  and 
according  to  the  deposition  of  Solomon  Smith,  a  member 
of  Davis'  Minute  Company,  the  price  paid  by  the  town  of 
Acton  for  this  service  was  at  the  rate  of  eight  pence  per 
half  day. 

Three  young  minute-men,  making  their  home  in  the 
farm-house,  would  be  almost  a  small  army  of  itself,  and  the 
little  squad  could  "stack  arms"  about  the  broad  fire-place, 
and  bivouac  in  miniature  beside  it,  as  Luther  tuned  up 
with  his  fife,  and  the  venerable  deacon,  who  was  doubtless 
an  old  militiaman,  instructed  the  boys  in  those  rudiments 
of  war,  which  they  were  already  learning  in  Isaac  Davis' 
door-yard. 

That  the  heart  of  this  patriotic  householder  was  in  the 
work,  even  if  he  could  not  go  himself,  is  evident  from  the 
fact,  that  during  the  day  of  the  Concord  fight  he  went  out 


48  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

to  ascertain,  if  possible,  some  tidings  of  the  soldiers,  and 
that  on  his  return  he  groaned,  as  he  passed  the  window  to 
go  into  the  front  door.  Jonathan  Hosmer  was,  at  the  time 
of  the  events  here  related,  a  deacon  in  the  Acton  Congre- 
gational church,  and  was  sixty-five  years  old.  He  died  in 
1775,  and  it  may  be  that  his  demise  was  hastened  by  the 
death  of  his  son. 

On  the  morning  of  the  iQth,  the  old  house  was  doubt- 
less made  very  lively  by  hearing  of  the  alarm.  In  a 
moment,  probably,  candles  gleamed  from  several  windows, 
and,  perhaps,  no  sooner  did  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Abner 
hasten  down  stairs  and  through  the  entry-way  than  they 
were  met  by  an  anxious  mother,  who  was  already 
hurrying  to  arouse  them;  and,  as  they  hurried  into  the 
kitchen,  we  may  suppose  they  found  there  the  deacon, 
poking  from  the  back  log  the  ashes  with  which  he  had 
banked  it  the  night  before,  or  casting  upon  the  already 
glowing  coals  some  light  brush-wood  to  hasten  the  early 
breakfast.  Had  the  boys  not  waited  for  breakfast,  how- 
ever, they  would  not  have  gone  to  the  battle-field  hungry, 
for  history  informs  us  that  for  those  who  arrived  at  the 
Davis  cottage  without  having  breakfasted,  Mrs.  Davis  pre- 
pared a  morning  meal,  the  men  meanwhile  employing 
themselves  in  making  cartridges. 

But  while  this  spot  is  suggestive  of  fervor  and  patriotic 
endeavor,  it  is  also  suggestive  of  sadness.  Two,  who  went 
from  this  home  that  morning,  never  came  back ;  and  of  all 
who  then  went  forth,  it  may  be  said,  they  went  to  die  or  to 
suffer.  Abner  was  brought  back  in  the  embrace  of  death, 
a  few  hours  after  he  hopefully  left  his  father's  door-yard 
trailing  or  shouldering  his  gun,  and  his  prostrate  form  was 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  49 

borne  up  the  little  lane  to  the  door  of  the  Davis  cottage, 
and  laid  by  the  form  of  his  faithful  leader  to  await  the 
coming  of  another,  who  was  soon  to  join  that  silent  com- 
pany ;  for  the  funeral  of  Davis,  Hosmer,  and  James  Hay- 
ward  was  held  in  a  single  service  by  Rev.  John  Swift  at 
Captain  Davis'  late  home.  Luther  was  not  there  to  play 
over  the  remains  "  Saul's  March,"  nor  to  take  a  last  linger- 
ing look  upon  the  faces  of  comrades  whom  he  doubtless 
loved,  and  with  whom  he  had  dared  so  much ;  but  with 
wound  irritated  by  his  long  pursuit  of  the  British,  he  rested 
in  barrack  or  hospital  in  the  college  building  in  Cambridge, 
only  to  go  later  to  conflict,  and  afterward  to  be  borne  back, 
slowly  and  sadly  by  relatives  or  comrades,  past  the  scenes 
of  a  few  months  previous,  to  find  a  grave  among  his  ances- 
tors in  the  wayside  burial  place  at  Littleton. 

The  cemetery  in  which  his  dust  reposes  is  situated 
near  Littleton  Common,  and  has  an  area  of  an  acre  or  two, 
scattered  over  which  is  a  growth  of  tall  pines,  whose  gentle 
murmuring  is  not  inharmonious  with  the  associations  of  the 
place.  It  is  in  some  respects  a  typical  New  England  bury- 
ing ground  ;  and  the  irregular  position  of  many  of  the  head 
stones  is  evidence  of  the  lapse  of  long  years  since  the  hand 
of  friendship  erected  them.  The  older  stones  bear  date  as 
far  back  as  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which 
is  indicative  of  its  having  been  set  apart  for  its  present  pur- 
pose about  that  time.  No  record  is  known  to  exist  as  to 
by  whom  or  of  whom  this  consecrated  ground  was  procured. 
It  may  have  been  given  by  "ye  proprietors"  to  whomsoever 
would  occupy  it ;  knowing  full  well  that  no  arrant  trespas- 
ser would  lay  hold  of  any  of  that  scant  acreage  till  he  was 
obliged  to ;  and  then,  only  to  hold  it  in  mortmain.  The 


50  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

markers  are  mostly  slate-stones,  and  in  many  instances  are 
not  only  leaning  and  sunken,  but  the  quaint  epitaphs  have 
become  mossgrown  and  weatherworn. 

In  the  Blanchard  lot,  which  is  in  the  easterly  portion, 
and  near  the  front  entrance,  are  several  stones  of  this 
character,  upon  which  are  inscriptions  as  follows: 

"  In  memory  of  Mrs.  Abigail,  wife  of  Mr.  Calvin 
Blanchard,  who  died  June  12,  1836,  ALt  79." 

"Sacred  To  the  memory  of  Mr.  Calvin  Blanchard,  who 
died  Janr  2d  1800.  Aged  46. 

"The  swee*  remembrance  of  the  just, 
Shall  flourish  when  they  sleep  in  dust." 

"Here  lies  buried  ye  Body  of  John  Blanchard,  Son  of 
Mr  Thomas  &  Mr8  Sarah  Blanchard  who  Decd  Octobr  ioth 
A.  D.  1745  Age  26  years  loM  &  7D." 

No  stone  was  erected  to  designate  the  grave  of  Luther 
at  the  time  of  his  burial ;  for,  as  he  died  leaving  neither 
wife  nor  children,  his  grave  shared  the  fate  of  many  an- 
other at  that  time,  and  was  left  unmarked. 

The  Revolutionary  age  was  an  age  of  the  bearing  of 
heavy  burdens,  and  it  was  no  lack  of  affection  that  allowed 
the  bodies  of  the  beloved  dead  to  repose  without  a  stone  to 
bear  them  record.  The  stone  that  bears  the  name  of  Cal- 
vin, marks  the  grave  of  Luther's  brother,  who  went  whh 
him  to  the  North  bridge,  and  was  afterward  killed  by  the 
fall  of  a  tree. 

After  the  Concord  fight,  Calvin  continued  in  the  service, 
and  we  hear  of  him  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  in  the  regi- 
ment of  Colonel  Prescott,  stationed  at  the  redoubt.  He 
was  a  man  of  stout  physique,  and  it  is  said,  that  before  the 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  51 

battle  he  assisted  in  tearing  down  a  barn  for  material  with 
which  to  make  fortifications,  and  that  he  would  carry  one 
end  of  the  timber  when  it  required  two  men  to  carry  the 
other.  As  has  been  stated,  Calvin  was  in  the  Canada  cam- 
paign with  General  Arnold  in  the  fall  of  17/5,  and,  while 
absent,  Luther,  according  to  tradition,  was  borne  to  his 
last,  long  home  in  Littleton.  But  while  widely  separated 
for  a  time  in  life,  their  mortal  remains  were  not  long  sepa- 
rate when  life  had  fled;  for,  in  1800,  Calvin  was  carried  to 
the  same  little  burial  place,  and  buried  where  now  the  pine 
branches  droop  or  sway  with  the  pleasant  breezes,  and  the 
wild  flowers  creep  in  the  spring-time  to  decorate  the  turf. 

"  So  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest 
With  all  their  country's  wishes  blest." 

THE  DAVIS  MEMORIAL  STONE. 

Immediately  following  the  Blanchard  dedicatory  ser- 
vices, were  those  held  near  the  site  of  the  Isaac  Davis  home. 
This  spot  is  about  one  mile  westerly  of  Acton  Centre,  at 
the  premises  of  Charles  Wheeler.  Upon  it  has  been  placed 
a  hewn  stone,  on  the  side  of  which,  facing  the  highway,  is 
the  following  inscription : 

"THIS  FARM  WAS  THE  HOME  OF 

CAPTAIN  ISAAC  DAVIS, 

WHO  WAS  KILLED  IN  BATTLE  BY  THE  BRITISH 

AT  THE  OLD  NORTH  BRIDGE  IN  CONCORD, 

APRIL  19,  1775." 

An  address  was  made  here  by  the  Rev.  George  F. 
Clark  of  West  Acton,  a  part  of  which  is  as  follows : 

"The  story  of  Captain  Isaac  Davis  and  his  brave  asso- 
ciates has  been  frequently  told.  But  it  never  grows  old, 


5 a  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

and  will  not  grow  old,  so  long  as  the  love  of  liberty  shall 
animate  the  hearts  of  our  citizens.  It  needs  to  be  retold 
to  coming  generations,  until  throughout  the  entire  world 
the  inalienable  rights  of  men  of  every  race  and  clime  shall 
be  guaranteed.  It  needs  to  be  rehearsed  until  'man's  in- 
humanity to  man '  shall  no  longer  'make  countless  thou- 
sands mourn,'  and,  instead,  the  ties  of  universal  brotherhood 
are  everywhere  acknowledged. 

"  Learning  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  Captain  Davis 
quickly  prepared  to  lead  his  company  to  the  post  of  danger. 
His  widow  affirmed  that  her  husband  'said  but  little  that 
morning.  He  seemed  serious  and  thoughtful,  but  never 
seemed  to  hesitate  as  to  the  course  of  his  duty.'  The  hasty 
preparations  for  departure  being  completed,  the  march  be- 
gan ;  but,  having  gone  a  few  rods,  a  halt  was  called,  and 
Captain  Davis  returned  to  the  house  and  bade  his  wife  good- 
bye, saying:  'Take  good  care  of  the  children.'  On  leaving 
the  town,  an  hour  or  more  after  sunrise,  Captain  Davis 
said:  'I  have  a  right  to  go  to  Concord  on  the  king's  high- 
way, and  I  intend  to  go  if  I  have  to  meet  all  the  British 
troops  in  Boston.'  This  shows  the  spirit  of  the  man.  Ar- 
riving at  the  scene  of  action,  about  9  o'clock,  he  reported 
to  Adjutant  Hosmer  that  he  was  ready  for  duty,  and  took 
the  position  assigned  him.  Soon  the  decisive  moment 
came.  A  movement  toward  the  bridge  was  made,  Captain 
Davis  and  his  company  taking  the  right  and  leading  the 
van,  exclaiming,  as  he  started :  '  I  haven't  a  man  that  is 
afraid  to  go!"  No,  indeed!  For  he  and  his  brave  com- 
patriots were 

" '  Men,  high-minded  men, 

Men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dared  maintain.' ' 


THE  STATUE   OF  THE    MINUTE-MAN. 

Erected  Near  the  Spot  Where  Luther  Blanch' 

ard  was  Hit   by   a   British   Musket-Ball, 

and    Capt.    Isaac   Davis   and    Abner 

Hosmer  Fell  April   19th,  1775. 


THE   SIGNIFICANCE 

OF 

MINUTE-MEN  MEMORIAL  STONES. 


IV. 

"  Time  rolls  his  ceaseless  course.     The  race  of  yore, 

Who  danced  our  infancy  upon  their  knee, 
And  told  our  marvelling  boyhood  legends  store, 

Of  their  strange  ventures  happ'd  by  land  or  sea, 
How  are  they  blotted  from  the  things  that  be  ? 

How  few,  all  weak,  and  withered  of  their  force, 
Wait,  on  the  verge  of  dark  eternity, 

Like  stranded  wrecks,  the  tide  returning  hoarse, 

To  sweep  them  from  our  sight!     Time  rolls  his  ceaseless 
course. 

Yet  live  there  still  who  can  remember  well, 

How,  when  a  mountain  chief  his  bugle  blew, 
Both  field  and  forest,  dingle,  cliff  and  dell, 

And  solitary  heath,  the  signal  knew ; 
And  fast  the  faithful  clan  around  him  drew, 

What  time  the  warning  note  was  keenly  wound, 
What  time  aloft  their  kindred  banner  flew, 

While  clamorous  war-pipes  yelled  the  gathering  sound, 

And  while  the  Firey  Cross  glanced,  like  a  meteor  round." 

Scott. 


54  LUTHER   BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

It  is  many  years  since  events  of  greater  significance 
have  been  celebrated  in  a  Middlesex  town,  than  those  now 
described.  Other  towns  have  erected  monuments  desig- 
nating battle-fields.  Lexington  has  marked  the  spot  on 
or  near  which  her  citizens  fell,  at  the  first  fire  of  the 
British  Regulars ;  Concord  has  her  minute-man  statue  by 
the  side  of  the  Old  North  bridge ;  and  Sudbury  has  a 
monument  commemorative  of  a  conflict  between  the  Colo- 
nial soldiers  and  the  allied  Indian  forces  of  Philip  of  Poka- 
noket.  But  when,  before  the  erection  of  the  memorial 
stones  now  dedicated,  has  individual,  town,  or  municipality 
erected  similar  souvenirs  of  the  homes  of  the  Middlesex 
Minute-men?  Yet,  what  could  be  more  fittingly  or  appro- 
priately commemorated  ?  For,  what  is  more  allied  by 
stirring  historic  association  to  that  formative  period  of  the 
past,  known  as  the  period  of  '75  and  '76,  than  the  dwell- 
ing-places of  these  extemporised  soldiers?  In  those 
humble  homes,  which  were  usually  the  typical  New  Eng- 
land farm-house  or  the  quiet  cottage  of  the  village  artesan, 
were  the  hearthstones  about  which  were  held  those  even- 
ing and  neighborhood  talks,  where  great  plans  were  pro- 
jected, and  where  influences  had  their  beginnings  which 
reached  into  far  off  years.  Greater  council  chambers  there 
have  been  in  the  world's  history,  where,  within  palace  or 
castle  walls,  princes  and  potentates  have  assembled  to 
shape  the  courses  of  nations,  but  other  councils  came  after 
them  which  undid  their  work,  because  they  who  wrought 
it  would  not  sacrifice  themselves  to  maintain  it;  but  what 
was  done  by  the  minute-men  in  the  council  hall  of  the  old 
farm  kitchen,  above  whose  broad,  flaring  fire-place  was  the 
old  king's  arm  snugly  nestled  amid  squashes  and  herbs, 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL.  55 

was  carried  out  at  all  hazards.  To  mark  the  sites  of  such 
places  is  noble,  and  to  search  for  them  among  the  crum- 
bling brick  work  of  old  chimney  stacks,  where  the  vagrant 
Cyprus  and  the  straggling  bouncing  Bess  may  now  and 
then  disclose  a  bit  of  half-burnt  brand  from  the  last  back- 
log, is  better  than  searching  for  diamonds. 

But  let  us  turn  from  these  homes,  and  consider  briefly 
who  these  minute-men  were. 

The  minute-man  was  created  for  a  military  emergency. 
He  was,  in  this  respect,  sui generis,  and  his  character  and 
history  were  unique.  He  might  be  too  old  or  too  young 
for  a  militiaman.  He  relied  upon  himself  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  object ;  and  he  might,  perhaps,  say,  as 
Roderick  Dhu  said  to  Fitzjames : 

"  Brave  Gael,  my  pass,  in  danger  tried. 
Hangs  in  my  belt,  and  by  my  side." 

George  W.  Curtis  informed  his  audience  at  the  Cen- 
tennial celebration  of  the  Concord  fight,  that  the  minute- 
man  of  '75  was  old  Deacon  Josiah  Haynes  of  Sudbury, 
who,  at  the  age  of  about  eighty,  went  to  the  Concord  fight 
on  horseback;  and  the  historian,  Bancroft  says:  "As 
the  Sudbury  company,  commanded  by  the  brave  Nixon, 
passed  near  the  South  bridge,  Josiah  Haynes,  near  eighty 
years  of  age,  deacon  of  the  Sudbury  church,  urged  an 
attack  on  the  British  stationed  there."  Perhaps  it  may 
be  rightly  stated  that  the  minute-man  of  '75  was,  for  the 
most  part,  amenable  to  no  one  except  to  his  company 
officers  and  his  own  conscience. 

The  officers  of  the  minute  companies  held  no  commis- 
sions from  either  Congress  or  Crown.  The  pay  of  these 


56  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

soldiers  was  what  a  town  might  vote  them.  And  if,  on  the 
return  for  service  rendered  on  April  iQth,  1775,  money 
was  granted  them  by  a  grateful  people,  it  may  have  been 
as  a  gratuity.  Says  the  historian,  Bancroft:  "The  Con- 
gress of  Massachusetts  adopted  a  code  for  its  future  army, 
and  authorized  a  committee  of  safety  to  form  and  pay  six 
companies  of  artillery;  yet  they  refused  to  take  into  pay 
any  part  of  the  militia  or  minute-men."  Thus  it  was  that 
the  minute-man  was,  in  a  sense,  his  own  man,  and  as  such 
he  had  a  right  to  be  a  foremost  man.  Because  he  was  a 
minute-man  he  was  expected  to  be  at  the  front  and  form 
the  firing  line.  Old  Deacon  Josiah  Haynes  had  a  right  to 
urge  the  Sudbury  company  to  cross  the  South  bridge,  on 
their  way  to  Concord;  and  it  doubtless  was  from  a  sense 
of  deference  to  Colonel  James  Barrett,  who  requested  that 
the  company  rendezvous  at  the  North  bridge,  that  Captain 
Nixon  acceded  and  went  there,  and  the  result  was,  that 
Sudbury  did  not  begin  the  fight.  There  perhaps  need  be 
no  wonder  then,  as  to  why  Captain  Isaac  Davis,  being 
the  youngest  of  the  assembled  company  commanders, 
should  be  the  first  to  face  the  British  Regulars  in  organ- 
ized resistance.  He  had  a  right  to  be  first,  for  he  was 
a  minute-man ;  and  his  company  had  a  right  to  follow  him, 
for  it  was  a  minute  company.  He  said,  before  starting  from 
Acton,  as  we  have  stated,  that  he  had  a  right  to  go  to 
Concord  by  the  king's  highway,  and  that  he  should  do  so  if 
he  met  all  the  British  troops  in  Boston  ;  surely,  then,  he 
should  not  be  deterred  by  waiting  for  any  one  to  precede 
him.  He  knew  no  toll-gate  of  stiff  etiquette  on  the  coun- 
ty's highway ;  he  recognized  no  turnpike  bar  of  formality ; 
he  would  pay  no  toll  except  in  powder  and  ball.  He  had, 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  57 

that  morning,  fed  his  men  at  his  own  table;  they  had  made 
cartridges  by  his  fireside,  and  being  a  gunsmith,  he  had, 
perhaps,  furnished  some  with  guns. 

If,  then,  anyone  had  a  right  to  go  to  Concord  with- 
out hindrance,  it  was  this  bold  leader  and  his  little  com- 
pany. There  is  little  need  of  controversy,  to  settle 
a  point,  that  settles  itself,  when  we  consider  the  circum- 
stances. Davis  hurried  to  reach  the  place  he  started 
for,  and  beside  him  was  his  faithful  fifer,  who  like  his 
leader  was  probably  hit,  because  at  the  front.  It  was 
minute-man  music  that  Luther  Blanchard  played  that 
morning,  and  perhaps  the  first  strains  that  the  English 
soldiers  heard  at  Concord  were  from  young  Luther's  fife, 
and  it  may  be,  that  the  last  notes  that  faded  out  with  the 
dying  day  were  those  of  "  The  White  Cockade,"  which  the 
young  Acton  musician  may  have  played  when  near  the 
Charlestown  peninsula,  thus  reminding  the  Regulars  of 
the  remark  of  the  Roxbury  school  boy,  who  said,  as  Earl 
Percy  started  out  playing  "Yankee  Doodle,"  that  they 
might  return  to  the  tune  of  "  Chevy  Chace." 

Such  were  the  Middlesex  minute-men ;  independent, 
bold  to  rashness,  going  from  the  fireside  council  of  the 
farm  kitchen  to  the  red  field  of  conflict,  unflinching,  and 
asking  favors  of  no  one.  We  hear  of  them  among  the  first 
to  start,  and  the  first  to  fall.  Among  the  slain  along  that 
wayside  battle-field,  are  conspicuous  the  names  of  the 
minute-men,  or  of  those  who  went  with  them. 

Probably  none  were  more  zealous  in  the  great  struggle 
for  American  independence  than  was  this  class  of  old  yeo- 
manry. When  the  conflict  was  ended  they  returned  to  the 


58  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

peaceful  pursuits  of  their  home-life  in  a  spirit  as  manly  and 
self-reliant  as  they  went  forth  in  the  hour  of  battle;  con- 
tent to  till  the  soil,  and  to  develope  their  little  home  indus- 
tries for  such  rewards  as  their  frugality  and  diligence 
afforded.  They  formed  a  republic  on  the  principles  which 
they  had  fought  to  secure;  and  they  were  as  earnest  in  its 
maintenance  in  town  meeting  and  convention,  as  they  were 
in  securing  it  in  the  day  of  conflict. 

Though  the  earthly  lives  of  such  men  may  come  to  an 
end,  yet  there  is  no  death  to  the  influence  of  their  illus- 
trious deeds.  It  continues  with  the  liberties  their  efforts 
and  sacrifices  have  established  and  maintained.  So  may  it 
be  with  each  honored  name ;  may  it  be  perpetuated  and 
given  a  proper  place  in  history. 

"  So  let  it  live  unfading, 

The  memory  of  the  dead, 
Long  as  the  pale  anemone 

Springs  where  their  tears  were  shed, 
Or  raining  in  the  summer's  wind, 

In  flakes  of  burning  red, 
The  wild  rose  sprinkles  with  its  leaves 
The  turf  where  once  they  bled  1 " 

O.   W.  Holmes, 


00 

H 


c 

G 
en 

m 


n 


THE  MINUTE-MAN 

AND  THE 

NEW  ENGLAND  MEETING-HOUSE. 


V. 

The  going  forth  to  battle  of  Calvin  and  Luther  Blanch- 
ard,  and  the  class  of  soldiers  whom  they  represented,  was 
not  a  matter  of  accident  or  caprice,  but  was  occasioned  by 
influences  which  had  been  at  work  since  the  Puritan  exodus 
from  England  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  shores,  which  be- 
gan about  1630.  These  influences  were  intensely  religious. 
The  Puritan's  bible,  as  he  read  it,  was  positive  in  its  teach- 
ings concerning  "A  church  without  a  bishop,  and  a  state 
without  a  king;"  and  although  the  New  England  immi- 
grant was  obliged  to  build  a  civic  structure  under  colonial 
relations  to  the  British  crown,  he  would  only  tolerate  those 
relations  so  long  as  they  were  righteous,  and  he  could  do 
it  consistantly  with  fealty  to  God's  word.  In  process  of 
time  he  found  this  impossible,  hence  a  resistance  to  author- 
ity that  resulted  in  organized  revolt.  Thus  was  the  Revo- 
lution the  child  of  pious  parentage;  and  the  militia  and 
minute-men  who  participated  in*it  were  as  much  an  ethical 
and  religious  creation  as  the  soldier  of  Cromwell,  about  a 
half  century  before. 


60  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

The  visible  symbol  of  what  constituted  the  New  Eng- 
land minute-man  was  the  New  England  meeting-house,  and 
the  living  exponent  of  the  principles  it  set  forth  was  the 
minister.  Back  of  every  movement  of  the  minute-men  was 
a  moral  and  religious  mainspring,  tempered  fine  by  what 
was  taught  in  these  homely  places  of  worship,  perched 
bleakly  among  his  own  home  hills,  or  nestled  snugly  in 
his  valleys,  or  upon  his  intervales.  The  cause  for  which 
he  contended  was  born  in  the  farm-house  parsonage  of  his 
minister,  who,  settled  for  life,  was  the  oracular  authority  for 
what  was  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  if  not  militant.  The 
principles  of  his  patriotism  were  preached  on  Sundays,  and 
the  message  was  considered  heaven-sent.  The  minister 
was  liberally  educated.  He  was  the  town's  statesman,  its 
umpire  in  matters  of  dispute,  and  the  teacher  of  "higher 
learning."  The  meeting-house  was  the  place  of  town  meet- 
ing, as  well  as  church  meeting,  and  the  church  government 
was,  in  a  broad  sense,  democratic.  From  such  associations 
and  agencies  came  forth  the  militia  and  minute-men  of 
'75;  and  thus  it  may  be  seen  that  he  was  not  a  special 
creation,  but  an  evolved  product  of  slow-moving  forces. 

This  estimate  of  the  causes  which  produced  the 
minute-man  magnifies  him,  and  puts  him  on  the  high  plane 
of  intelligence,  where  he  belongs.  There  is  a  correspond- 
ence between  his  high  character  and  the  privileges  of  the 
last  century,  although,  to  a  casual  observer,  these  may 
appear  meager  and  stinted.  It  was  the  loftiness  of  his  pur- 
poses that  gave  him  his  fighting  qualities. 

The  wonder  may  be  sometimes  expressed  as  to  why 
such  intelligence  went  with  the  provincial  soldier  to  the 
battle-field,  and  why  it  was  that  there  were  "bayonets  that 


LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL.  6 1 

could  think,"  at  a  time  when  the  little  red  school-house  had 
been  but  recently  raised  on  the  small,  three-sided  patch  of 
the  town's  common  land  at  the  cross-roads,  or  in  some 
scant  corner  of  a  farmer's  close ;  but  the  wonder  ceases,  when 
we  consider  that  there  were  other  school-houses;  that 
the  meeting-house  helped  to  educate,  and  that  the  church- 
going  bell  was  a  school  bell,  and  that  as  surely  as  its  tones 
from  the  little  belfry  on  the  common  called  the  yeomanry 
to  arms  in  the  first  gloaming  of  that  April  day  of  conflict, 
so  surely,  on  each  successive  Sabbath  in  the  years  that 
long  preceded,  it  called  the  householder's  family  together 
into  the  hard,  pen-like  pews,  where  they  learned  that  "Re- 
sistance to  tyranny  is  obedience  to  God;"  that  "Taxation, 
without  representation,  is  wrong;"  and  that  "All  men  are 
born  free  and  equal."  Without  a  response  to  the  bell  in 
the  first  instance  there  would  have  been  no  response  in  the 
last.  Without  a  response  in  the  first  instance  there  would 
have  been  no  midnight  messenger  riding  out  into  the  dark- 
ness, striking  liberty's  sparks  as  he  went,  and  scattering 
abroad  that  alarm  that  aroused  the  startled  land.  No 
amount  of  arithmetic,  or  grammar,  or  geography  could 
make  the  minute-man  of  '75 ;  it  required  years  of  tutorage  in 
those  educational  processes  that  were  inaugurated  at  the 
beginning  of  each  colonial  town,  when  the  General  Court, 
that  gave  it  an  incorporated  existence,  made  that  existence 
conditional  upon  its  maintenance  of  a  gospel  ministry. 
Hence  it  was  that  the  minute-man  could  get  along  without 
the  school-house  better  than  without  the  meeting-house 
and  the  minister;  for  his  minister  was  his  library,  his 
sermons  were  his  lecture  courses,  and  the  Bible  his  book 
of  all  books. 


62  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

To  show  that  our  position  is  correct,  and  to  show  what 
the  minute-man  was  in  his  religious  relations,  we  have  only 
to  notice  what  history  says  of  him  in  this  respect.  We  are 
informed  by  Hon.  John  S.  Keyes,  the  historian  of  Concord, 
that  Captain  Miles,  who  commanded  a  company  from  that 
town,  stated  that  "He  went  to  the  battle  in  the  same  spirit 
that  he  went  to  church;"  so  it  was  with  other  officers  of 
that  memorable  period,  and  also  of  the  war  period  just  pre- 
ceding it. 

General  John  Nixon,  who  commanded  the  regiment 
at  Bunker  Hill,  in  which  Luther  Blanchard  fought,  was,  in 
his  later  life,  a  member  of  the  Sudbury  church.  Colonel 
Josiah  Brown,  who  commanded  a  regiment  in  one  of  the 
Crown  Point  expeditions,  with  which  regiment,  it  is  sup- 
posed, Simon  Blanchard  was  at  one  time  connected,  was 
also  prominently  connected  with  this  church,  and  as  a  token 
of  his  regard  for  it,  gave  it  a  piece  of  land,  the  proceeds  of 
which  were  for  the  supply  of  the  communion  elements. 
Samuel  Dakin  of  Sudbury,  who  was  a  captain  in  Colonel 
Brown's  regiment,  in  one  of  the  Canada  expeditions,  thus 
graphically  writes  concerning  the  men  of  his  company,  in 
a  letter  written  to  his  wife,  dated  September  25,  1755: 
"I  am  in  good  health,  and  my  company  are  so  obedient  to 
me,  and  so  loving  to  one  another,  that  it  makes  my  life  ex- 
ceeding comfortable  and  pleasant.  I  have  never  yet  heard 
one  thwarting  word  in  my  company,  but  they  seem  all  to 
have  a  brotherly  care  one  for  another;  and  have  never 
heard  one  profane  word  among  them,  and  their  forwardness 
to  attend  religious  exercises  is  delightful  to  me ;  so  that  I 
have  many  mercies."  In  a  letter  of  later  date,  he  writes 
as  follows  of  his  company:  "They  are  all  well,  and  I 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  63 

hope  I  shall  be  very  happy  in  my  company,  and  they  are 
ever  ready  to  attend  prayers,  and  singing  of  Psalms,  which 
we  have  practiced  on  our  journey." 

In  a  memorandum  of  Captain  Dakin's,  dated  Septem- 
ber 27,  1756,  he  states  as  follows:  "And  now,  going  on 
an  expedition  to  Crown  Point,  I  have  given  myself  up 
wholly  to  God,  to  be  at  his  disposal  in  life  or  death."  It  is 
stated  that  Rev.  Samuel  Woodward  of  Weston,  when 
about  one  hundred  men  had  gathered  at  the  house  of  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Lamson,  on  the  morning  of  April  igth.,  offered 
prayer,  and  then,  seizing  a  musket,  went  with  the  company 
in  pursuit  of  the  regulars. 

We  are  informed  of  Rev.  John  Swift  of  Acton,  that  as 
Captain  Davis  and  his  men  swept  past  his  house,  while 
Luther  Blanchard  was  playing  his  fife,  he  flung  after  them 
a  pastor's  blessing.  It  was  from  the  house  of  a  deacon  in 
the  Acton  church,  that  the  three  young  men,  Abner 
Hosmer,  Calvin,  and  Luther  Blanchard  went  forth;  and 
James  Hayward,  one  of  the  slain,  was  the  son  of  another 
deacon  of  the  same  church. 

Such  was  the  moral  and  religious  make-up  of  the 
militia  and  minute-men  of  '75;  and  such  are  some  of  the 
elements  of  which  their  character  was  constituted.  In 
the  world's  extended  annals,  perhaps  no  man  was  ever 
better  fitted  for  his  task,  and,  it  may  be,  results  more 
noble  or  lofty  were  never  more  quickly  achieved.  Born  of 
such  noble  purposes,  bred  in  such  humble  temples,  and  with 
a  dauntless  spirit,  made  ironclad  against  cowardice  by  an 
unfaltering  faith  in  God,  but  with  such  rude  accouterments 
as  would  invite  defeat,  he  went  forth  and  made  a  throne 


64  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

tremble,  and  the  right  hand  of  its  proud  despot  loosen  its 
grasp  on  an  oppressed  continent. 

At  the  day's  dawning  of  April  iQth,  the  red  cross  of  St. 
George  danced  gayly  on  the  folds  of  a  flag  whose  prestige 
was  a  power  to  them  who  fought  beneath  it ;  at  the  day's 
declining  that  banner  had  drooped,  and  many  who  followed 
it  had  fallen  never  to  rise  till  the  great  resurrection.  They 
had  met  the  militia  and  minute-men.  They  had  seen  writ- 
ten upon  the  wall  in  unmistakable  characters,  the  truth 
that  "bayonets  could  think,"  though  they  who  carried  them 
had  only  been  taught  of  God  by  their  ministers,  in  their 
humble  meeting-houses  among  their  farms,  on  their  rugged 
hills.  Yes,  true  it  was,  that,  by  a  courage  born  of  their 
character,  the  militia  and  minute-men  changed  the  flag  of 
America  between  sun  and  sun  on  April  iQth.  Sublimely 
has  the  poet,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  described  the  con- 
trast in  those  weary,  war-vexed  hours,  in  his  poem,  "The 
Battle  of  Lexington,"  of  which  the  following  is  a  part : 

"  Gayly  the  plume  of  the  horseman  was  dancing, 

Never  to  shadow  his  cold  brow  again ; 
Proudly  at  morning  the  war  steed  was  prancing : 
Reeking  and  panting  he  droops  on  the  rein ; 
Pale  is  the  lip  of  scorn, 
Voiceless  the  trumpet  horn, 
Torn  is  the  silken-fringed  red  cross  on  high ; 
Many  a  belted  breast 
Low  on  the  earth  shall  rest, 
Ere  the  dark  hunters  the  herd  have  passed  by. 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  65 

"  Snow-gilded  crags  where  the  hoarse  wind  is  raving, 

Rocks  where  the  weary  floods  murmur  and  wail, 
Wilds  where  the  fern  by  the  furrow  is  waving, 
Reeled  with  the  echoes  that  rode  on  the  gale  ; 

Far  as  the  tempest  thrills, 

Over  the  darkened  hills, 
Far  as  the  sunshine  streams  over  the  plain, 

Roused  by  the  tyrant  band, 

Woke  all  the  mighty  land, 
Girded  for  battle,  from  mountain  to  main. 

"  Green  be  the  graves  where  her  martyrs  are  lying ; 
Shroudless  and  tombless  they  sunk  to  their  rest — 
While  o'er  their  ashes  the  starry  fold  flying 

Wraps  the  proud  eagle  they  roused  from  her  nest : 

Borne  on  her  Northern  pine, 

Long  o'er  the  foaming  brine 
Spread  her  broad  banner  to  storm  and  to  sun ; 

Heaven  keep  her  ever  free, 

Wide  as  o'er  land  and  sea 
Floats  the  fair  emblem  her  heroes  have  won.' 


THE    DESIGN 

OF 

THE  BLANCHARD  MEMORIAL  STONE. 


VI. 

He,  who  preserves  one  fragment  of  history  that  would 
otherwise  be  lost,  is  like  one  who  makes  two  blades  of 
grass  grow  where  but  one  grew  before,  a  public  benefactor; 
and  he  who  makes  prominent  an  historic  event,  that  had 
hitherto  been  kept  too  obscure,  performs  an  act  which  is 
akin  to  its  preservation. 

To  render  a  service  of  this  latter  character  is  one 
object  of  the  donor  of  this  memorial  stone.  Luke  Blanch- 
ard  has  sought  to  do  justice  to  one  whose  well-deserved 
merit  entitles  him  to  a  place  with  his  compatriots  Davis, 
Hosmer,  and  Hay  ward,  whose  remains  repose  within  the 
granite  mausoleum  at  Acton  center. 

That  these  four  Acton  minute-men  should  be  equally 
honored  admits  of  no  doubt.  Together  they  marched 
down  the  little  country  lane  that  led  out  into  the  great 
world  on  that  calm  April  morning ;  and,  together  hurried 
to  Concord  whither  it  was  said  by  the  midnight  messenger 
that  the  foe  was  rapidly  hastening ;  together  they  stood  on 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL.  67 

the  bank  of  the  Concord  river,  when  it  alone  separated 
them  from  some  of  the  best  troops  of  the  British  throne ; 
together  they  stood,  as  their  leader  offered  them  an 
early  sacrifice  upon  their  country's  altar ;  and  shoulder  to 
shoulder  they  met  the  enemy  and  received  his  fire. 

Yes,  as  they  were  not  separated  in  life,  so  in  death 
they  should  not  be  divided.  So  thought  the  donor  of  this 
memorial  stone,  and  suiting  the  action  to  the  noble  thought 
he  set  about  erecting  that  which  gives  a  like  prominence 
to  them  all.  Truly,  as  Daniel  Webster  exclaimed  at  the 
dedication  of  Bunker  Hill  monument,  "A  duty  has  been 
done;"  and  as  in  years  to  come  other  generations  shall 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  this  new  tribute  to  departed  worth, 
and  shall  read  the  inscription  on  the  one  side  as  it  sets 
forth  the  name  and  brief  history  of  Luther  Blanchard,  the 
Revolutionary  fifer,  they  will  turn  with  satisfaction  and 
read  also  the  inscription  on  the  other: 

"ERECTED  IN  1895 

BY  LUKE  BLANCHARD, 

GRAND-NEPHEW  OF  LUTHER." 

The  work  that  has  been  accomplished  by  the  erection 
of  this  new  memorial  is  supplemental  to  the  great  service 
done  by  the  State  and  the  Town  of  Acton  in  1851,  when  it 
erected  the  so-called  Davis  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Captain  Isaac  Davis,  Abner  Hosmer,  and  James  Hayward. 

Why  the  name  of  Luther  Blanchard  was  not  inscribed 
on  that  memorial  may,  perhaps,  in  part  be  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  he  was  not  a  native  of  Acton ;  and  if  the 
design  was  only  to  record  the  names  of  such  as  were  native- 
born  citizens,  this  explains  it. 


68  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

But  we  think  this  is  hardly  a  sufficient  reason  for  such 
a  notable  omission,  for  Acton  was  the  town  of  Luther 
Blanchard's  adoption;  and  though  born  in  the  adjacent 
territory,  which  is  now  Boxboro,  the  proximity  of  the 
two  places  was  such  as  might  well  lead  them  to  hold  hon- 
ors in  common.  Small  difference  then  should  it  make  as 
to  the  relationship  of  nativity  in  this  instance.  But  another 
reason  that  may  be  assigned  for  the  unfortunate  omission 
is  that  young  Blanchard  died  of  a  wound,  and  was  not 
killed  outright.  But  so  did  James  Hayward  die  of  a 
wound.  Though  he  was  struck  by  a  musket  bullet  a  short 
distance  from  Lexington  yet  he  lingered  for  some  hours. 
Even  if  the  wound  received  by  Luther  Blanchard  at  the 
North  bridge  had  not  proved  fatal,  although  there  is  no 
evidence  to  show  that  it  was  not  that  wound  which,  irri- 
tated by  hard  service  in  the  entrenchments  at  Bunker  Hill, 
caused  his  death,  it  is  no  reason  for  giving  him  a  second 
place  in  history.  Tradition  says  he  died  of  a  wound  re- 
ceived in  battle;  and  if  so,  it  makes  no  difference  when  or 
where. 

He  was  one  of  Acton's  Revolutionary  martyrs,  and 
was  laid  upon  his  country's  altar;  and  no  monument  to  the 
memory  of  her  illustrious  children,  who  fell  upon  that  first 
memorable  morning,  can  be  complete  without  his  name. 
In  erecting,  then,  this  simple  memorial,  though  it  be  not 
as  imposing  in  its  material  proportions  as  yonder  shaft 
that  rises  above  those  other  noble  slain,  yet  in  its  humble 
symplicity  it  says  as  much  to  the  world,  and  hence,  he  who 
erected  it  is  as  surely  a  public  benefactor  as  they  who,  out 
of  the  treasury  of  a  great  Commonwealth,  have  done  that 
which  in  its  material  relations  is  more  imposing. 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  69 

In  selecting  a  suitable  stone  as  a  marker  of  the  spot  from 
which  his  grandfather  and  grand-uncle  went  forth  to  battle, 
Luke  Blanchard  had  the  good  taste  to  take  one  from  the 
adopted  town  of  those  whose  deeds  it  was  to  commemorate. 
He  selected  a  natural  stone  on  the  soil  of  Acton,  and 
with  painstaking  had  it  suitably  inscribed  and  placed  in 
its  present  position.  In  the  selection  of  a  memorial 
stone  of  such  a  character,  the  donor  has  done  an  act  that 
is  suggestive  of  the  great  truth,  that  it  is  neither  "  Storied 
urn  nor  animated  bust"  that  make  mementoes  interesting 
and  valuable,  but  the  character  of  that  which  is  commemo- 
rated. The  donor  of  this  monument  might,  out  of  his 
abundant  resources,  have  erected  a  massive  memorial  of 
marble  or  of  bronze,  but  he  has  taught  us  by  this  simple 
selection,  that  a  name  may  make  anything  great,  and  that 
a  mere  boulder  from  any  of  our  New  England  hills,  if  in- 
scribed with  the  name  of  a  minute-man  of  '75,  may  serve  as 
good  a  purpose  as  column  or  pyramid. 

In  the  erection  of  a  memorial  of  this  kind,  more  may 
be  accomplished  by  the  donor  than  we  at  first  suppose.  It 
stands  there  as  a  faithful  guide-post  of  freedom,  pointing  to 
the  path  that  our  fore-fathers  trod  to  obtain  it.  The  way 
that  led  from  the  humble  home  of  Luther  Blanchard  to  the 
old  North  bridge  was,  for  all  the  ardent  youth  knew,  a  path- 
way to  the  grave,  or  to  exile,  or  a  British  prison.  The  out 
come  of  the  strife  was  uncertain,  for  the  issue  none  could 
foresee.  But  the  glorious,  objective  point  to  those  patriotic 
spirits  was  as  clear  and  distinct  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens 
on  that  bright  spring  day.  What  was  it  to  him  or  his  com- 
rades "  Though  the  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave," 
they  would  walk  in  them,  nevertheless,  for  it  was  freedom's 


70  LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL. 

way  they  trod,  and  the  priceless  boon,  for  which  his  father 
had  fallen  on  the  far-off  plains  of  Quebec,  was  to  him  as 
precious  as  it  was  to  his  sire.  And  as  the  traveller  stops 
by  this  niche  in  the  road  by  the  quiet  country-side,  he  reads 
on  that  granite  surface,  that  they  who  would  have  rights  in- 
alienable must  maintain  them  at  a  cost  it  may  be  of  all  that 
is  dearest.  Surely,  then,  this  humble  tribute  is  more  than 
a  mere  marker  of  where  Luther  and  Calvin  Blanchard  once 
lived,  and  of  the  farm  from  which  one  went  to  an  early 
grave,  and  from  which  both  went  forth  to  glory;  it  is 
a  guide-board  to  liberty  for  the  generations  to  come,  and 
points  the  way  in  which  we  are  to  preserve  our  heritage. 

Space  forbids  further  suggestions  that  come  from  the 
service  done  by  the  donor  of  the  stone.  It  speaks  for  itself, 
as  it  stands  alone  by  the  wayside.  The  tired  school  boy, 
as  he  rests  for  a  moment  beside  it,  the  teamster  and  the 
toiling  laborer,  as  they  pass  it  in  their  daily  round  of  duty, 
the  curious  traveller  and  the  errandless  tramp,  all  may  alike 
be  benefitted  as  they  catch  new  inspiration,  when  reminded 
by  this  wayside  souvenir  of  the  great  nobility  of  man,  when 
it  is  brought  to  its  highest  endeavor  in  a  noble  cause. 


SIMON   BLANCHARD, 

Son    of    Calvin,    and    Grandson   of    Simon    who    was    Killed 
at  Quebec,  1759. 


ANCESTRAL  ANNALS 

OF 

CALVIN  AND  LUTHER  BLANCHARD. 

VII. 

Thomas,  the  first  ancestor  of  Calvin  and  Luther 
Blanchard  in  America,  of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge, 
came  to  this  country  from  near  Andover,  England,  with 
his  son  George,  born  in  1616,  on  the  ship  Jonathan,  in 
1639;  and  by  the  best  authority  obtainable  by  us,  settled 
in  Braintree,  Mass.  The  name  of  Thomas  Blanchard  is 
on  the  record  of  that  town  as  early  as  1648,  and  is  also 
found  there  some  years  later.  At  just  what  date  he  took  his 
departure  for  Maiden,  or  what  was  the  cause  of  his  change 
of  abode,  we  have  not  ascertained.  There  is  reason,  how- 
ever, for  the  supposition,  that  a  land  purchase  from  a  for- 
mer pastor  of  the  Braintree  church  was  a  chief  factor  in 
the  case,  as  history  informs  us,  that  Thomas  Blanchard,  on 
February  12,  1650-1651,  bought  a  farm  of  Rev.  John 
Wilson,  minister  of  Braintree,  for  two  hundred  pounds. 
The  Wilson-Blanchard  farm  was  in  the  southerly  part  of 
the  territory  of  Maiden,  near  the  border  of  the  marsh  land. 
The  farm  included  the  entire  promontory,  which  projects 


72  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

out  into  the  marshes  near  the  mouth  of  the  north  creek 
of  the  Mystic  river,  and  the  place  was  formerly  known 
as  "Wilson's  Point,"  and  "  Blanchard's  Point."  Its  area 
extended  from  the  Mystic  to  the  small  stream  or  creek, 
which  separates  Medford  and  Maiden ;  and  from  the  north 
creek  easterly  of  the  Craddock  grant,  according  to  historian 
Corey,  who  states,  that,  until  as  late  as  1855,  traces  of  the 
cellar  and  chimney  could  be  seen  upon  the  highest  point 
of  the  Wellington  farm.  After  the  death  of  Thomas 
Blanchard,  which  occurred  in  1654,  the  house  and  land 
was  divided  between  two  of  his  sons,  George  and  Nathaniel ; 
and  the  latter,  in  1657,  sold  half  of  his  land  to  his  younger 
brother  Samuel,  who  was  at  that  time  building  a  second 
house  on  the  estate.  In  process  of  time,  John  Guppy 
acquired  a  one-quarter  right  to  the  Wilson  estate  of 
Nathaniel  Blanchard,  which  was  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Nowell's  creek,  which  separates  Medford  from  that  part 
of  Maiden  now  Edgeworth.  A  house  on  the  place  subse- 
quently went  into  the  possession  of  Thomas  Shepard. 

Some  of  the  Blanchards  long  lived  in  the  vicinage  of 
the  ancestral  domains,  but  by  1795,  the  last  landholder 
bearing  the  Blanchard  name  had  left  the  locality.  Years, 
however,  before  the  paternal  estate  was  wholly  abandoned, 
and  conveyed  to  others,  the  exodus  of  one  or  more  repre- 
sentatives of  the  family,  to  the  territory  of  what  is  now 
Littleton,  had  taken  place ;  for,  as  before  observed,  we  hear 
of  Joseph  Blanchard,  the  grandfather  of  Calvin  and  Luther, 
on  the  ground  as  early,  at  least,  as  1717-1718.  The 
causes  that  led  Joseph  to  take  up  his  abode  there,  were, 
we  believe,  two-fold,  viz.  :  The  purchase  of  a  large  land 
tract  there  by  Ralph  Shepard,  a  neighbor  of  his  family ; 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  73 

and  the  marriage  of  Joseph,  his  father,  son  of  George 
Blanchard,  to  Hannah  Shepard,  who,  we  conjecture,  was  a 
daughter  of  Ralph  Shepard,  formerly  an  inhabitant  of  the 
territory  of  Charlestown,  now  Maiden.  As  this  conjecture, 
however,  is  not  based  directly  on  the  data  of  record,  but  is 
the  result  of  inference,  it  is  proper  to  state  our  reasons  for 
the  inference,  which  are  as  follows  : 

ist.  We  are  informed,  as  a  matter  of  history,  that 
Joseph,  son  of  George  Blanchard,  born  1654,  married  Han- 
nah Shepard. 

2d.  In  1635,  Ralph  Shepard,  with  his  wife,  Thank- 
lord  or  Thankslord,  aged  23,  and  his  daughter  Sarah,  aged 
2,  came  to  America  from  Stepney  Parish,  London,  Eng- 
land, on  the  ship  Abigail,  and  after  living  for  a  short  time 
in  Dedham,  Weymouth  and  Rehoboth,  settled  in  Maiden. 

3d.  The  following  record  is  found  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Littleton  Historical  Society:  "Sarah,  born 

1633;  Abraham,  ;  Isaac,  born  June  20,  1639;  Triall, 

born  December  19,  1641,  married,  1660,  Walter  Powers; 
Thankful,  born  February  10,  1650;  Jacob,  born  June, 
I^53;  (perhaps)  Ralph,  who  died  January  20,  1711  or 
12;  (perhaps)  Daniel  ;  Mary,  born  about  1660-62." 

4th.  We  are  informed  that  the  foregoing  record  is 
made  up,  at  least  in  part,  from  tradition,  and  is  not  claimed 
to  be  complete. 

5th.  In  that  early  period  of  our  country,  probably, 
a  record  of  births  and  deaths  was  not  so  carefully  kept  as 
in  an  age  which  makes  the  keeping  of  records  compulsory ; 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  is  well  known  to  historians, 
omissions  on  public  records,  of  names  and  dates  pertaining 
to  families,  are  not  unusual. 


74  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

6th.  The  sons,  Ralph  and  Daniel,  who  have,  by  con- 
jecture, been  assigned  to  the  years  1653  anc*  1660,  may 
have  been  born  between  1641  and  1650,  and  in  the  interim 
between  1653  and  1660  one  or  more  children  may  have  had 
birth  and,  if  so,  they  would  be  of  about  the  age  of  Joseph 
Blanchard,  who  married  Hannah  Shepard. 

7th.  We  have  found,  upon  examination  of  the  gene- 
alogy of  other  Shepard  families,  no  one,  oi  which  we  con- 
sider it  probable,  that  Hannah,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Blanch- 
ard, was  a  member. 

8th.  The  homesteads  of  the  Blanchards  and  Shepards 
were  not  far  distant  from  each  other.  Ralph  Shepard's 
house  was  situated  in  what  was  called  "  Bell  Rock  pasture," 
which  was,  probably,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  known  as 
"Bell  Rock  burying  ground,"  near  which  there  is  a  station 
on  the  Saugus  branch  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  railroad. 
This  burying  ground,  and  probably  also  the  pasture  here 
referred  to,  took  their  names  from  the  fact  that  a  bell  was 
placed  near  there  which,  in  the  early  settlement  of  the 
town,  was  used  to  call  the  inhabitants  to  meeting.  The 
house  of  Ralph  Shepard,  and  a  lot  of  land,  of  about  four- 
teen acres,  which  belonged  to  the  homestead,  was  purchased 
in  1666  by  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Bunker,  a  minister,  who  was 
ordained  in  Maiden,  December  9,  1663,  and  who,  at  one 
time,  owned  land  in  Charlestown,  about  Bunker  Hill.  The 
Shepard  homestead  is  described  as  lying  north  of  the  par- 
sonage and  meeting-house  lots,  on  both  sides  of  "Penny 
Ferry,"  which  crossed  the  Mystic  river,  in  the  locality  of 
the  present  Maiden  bridge. 

9th.  The  location  of  the  Blanchard  and  Shepard  farms 
made  the  families,  for  those  times,  neighbors.  They  were 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  75 

probably  worshipers  at  the  little  meeting-house  near  Bell 
Rock,  where  the  children  associated  on  Sundays,  and,  per- 
haps, they  attended  the  same  school,  which  may  have  been 
the  one  which  Ralph  Shepard  petitioned  might  be  kept  at 
his  house,  but  which  petition  was  not  granted.  The  marshes, 
outstretching  between  Blanchard's  Point  and  the  home  of 
Ralph  Shepard  at  Bell  Rock,  were  only  at  times  overflowed 
with  the  tide  water,  which  came  up  the  Mystic  river,  and  the 
little  estuaries,  which  may  have  run  between  the  two  places 
here  and  there  on  the  marsh  land,  would  hardly  form  a 
barrier,  at  low  tide,  to  the  neighborly  visits  of  the  two 
families. 

loth.  Ralph  Shepard,  some  time  subsequent  to  1663, 
purchased  a  large  land  tract  of  six  hundred  and  ten 
acres,  of  Lieutenant  Joseph  Wheeler,  of  Concord,  who 
in  turn  received  it  from  the  government.  This  land 
lay  in  the  form  of  a  triangle,  according  to  Mr.  Harwood, 
the  local  historian,  and  was  situated  between  the  Indian 
plantation  of  Nashoba,  and  what  is  now  Westford.  It  is 
stated,  that  in  the  tract  of  land,  at  or  near  the  Elbridge 
Marshall  farm,  was  the  home  of  Joseph  Blanchard.  "  Na- 
gog  pond  formed  the  base  of  the  triangle,  and  the  apex 
was  two  miles  one-quarter  and  sixty  rods  north  from  the 
south-west  end  of  Nagog  pond,  which  would  bring  it  to  a 
point  on  the  Westford  line,  on  or  near  the  Deacon  Man- 
ning farm,  but  south  of  the  road." 

nth.  A  large  part  of  the  Shepard  family  moved  to 
the  Littleton  territory,  and  settled  on  land  in  the  locality 
of  the  paternal  purchase;  and  among  these  was  Walter 
Powers  the  husband  of  Triall  Shepard,  who  bought  land  of 
his  father-in-law,  and  took  possession  of  it  as  early  as  1666. 


76  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

In  view  of  these  circumstances,  we  believe  the  fair  infer- 
ence is,  that  Joseph  Blanchard  married  Hannah,  a  daughter 
of  Ralph  Shepard,  and  that  her  name,  like  that  of  many 
another  member  of  a  large  family,  in  that  busy  and  prac- 
tical period  of  colonial  life,  was  not  placed  on  record,  as 
may  have  been  the  case  with  others  of  his  children ;  and  we 
believe  that  the  prime  cause  of  Walter  Powers'  and  Joseph 
Blanchard's  going  to  Littleton  territory  was  the  land  pur- 
chase of  their  father-in-law,  Ralph  Shepard. 

As  undisputed  tradition  locates  the  birthplace  of  Cal- 
vin and  Luther  Blanchard  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by 
Mr  Albert  Littlefield  of  Boxboro,  a  short  distance  northerly 
of  the  Boxboro  railroad  station,  it  may  be  that  Simon,  their 
father,  came  into  possession  of  this  farm,  either  by  inherit- 
ance or  purchase,  and  built  upon  it  the  house  which  origin- 
ally stood  there ;  or,  it  may  be,  that  Joseph  Blanchard,  the 
father  of  Simon  and  Jemima,  moved  from  his  early  estate 
on  the  Ralph  Shepard  purchase,  and  established  a  new 
homestead  on  the  farm  afterwards  occupied  by  Simon,  and 
where  Luther  and  Calvin  were  born. 

There  is  evidence  of  more  than  one  of  the  Blanchard 
family  being  early  in  Littleton  territory  ;  for,  in  the  old 
burying-ground  of  that  town  is,  as  we  have  noticed,  a  grave- 
stone to  John  Blanchard,  son  of  Thomas,  who  died  October 
10,  1745,  aged  nearly  twenty-seven  years. 

As  we  have  now  traced  the  paternal  and  maternal  an- 
cestry of  Calvin  and  Luther  Blanchard  to  about  the  be- 
ginning of  their  history,  as  it  is  related  to  their  Littleton 
life,  let  us  now  notice  something  about  the  territory  in 
which  they  located. 

The   tract  of   country,  in  which  the  Blanchards  and 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  77 

Shepards  lived,  teemed  with  Indian  reminiscences.  It  was 
once  the  home  of  Tahattawan,  a  chief  of  the  Nashoba  In- 
dians, who,  until  the  demoralization  and  devastation  of 
Philip's  war,  lived  in  peaceful  and  pleasant  occupation  in  a 
region  whose  sunny  hillsides  furnished  abundant  game, 
whose  valleys  and  plain-lands  furnished  planting  places  for 
their  corn,  and  where  the  little  woodland  lakelets  of  Nagog 
and  Fort  ponds  supplied  plenty  of  fish  and  wild  water-fowl. 
Surely,  Tahattawan  and  Pennakennit,  who  came  after  him, 
had  ample  reason  for  selecting  such  a  place  for  a  mis- 
sion home;  and  as  the  blessed  light  of  Christianity  was 
let  in  upon  the  hearts  of  these  children  of  the  woods,  well 
may  we  suppose  that  its  results  were  no  less  perceptible 
and  benign,  than  the  sunlight  that  came  down  through  the 
treetops,  on  the  deep  forest  shade.  That  this  was  so, 
history  gives  abundant  evidence,  for  so  manifest  were  the 
graces,  as  developed  by  the  entrance  of  God's  word,  that 
the  colonial  authorities  made  good  use  of  these  Christian 
Indians  in  negotiating  with  King  Philip  for  the  ransom  of 
captives.  Thomas  Dublet,  or  Nepanet,  was  an  agent 
in  the  release  of  Mrs.  Rowlandson,  who  was  captured  at 
Lancaster,  and  was  afterward  ransomed  near  the  foot  of 
Wachuset  mountain,  Princeton,  Mass.,  at  or  near  a  spot 
now  marked  by  a  memorial. 

The  wigwam  of  Thomas  Dublet,  tradition  states,  was 
near  the  Joel  Proctor  place.  It  is  said  that  the  fragment 
of  a  pot  presented  by  Mr.  Proctor,  and  supposed  to  have 
been  Thomas  Dublet's,  is  in  the  Reuben  Hoar  Library  at 
Littleton.  If  the  supposition  concerning  it  is  correct, 
the  associations  suggested  by  it  are  exceedingly  interesting; 
for  Sarah  Dublet,  the  wife  of  Thomas,  may  many  a  time 


78  LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL. 

have  stood  over  it  and  stirred  the  savory  contents  of  potted 
venison,  or  pigeon  or  wild  turkey,  which  was,  perhaps,  sea- 
soned with  sweet  herbs,  that  grew  in  the  garden  plots  of 
the  Powerses,  the  Shepards  and  the  Blanchards,  and  were 
generously  granted  her  for  the  picking.  But  the  hearth  of 
Sarah's  wigwam  is  cold,  and  from  it  the  smoke  no  longer 
curls  upward  through  the  treetops,  indicatiug  the  presence 
of  an  Indian  abode.  In  the  act  of  incorporation  of  the 
town  of  Littleton,  in  1714,  Sarah  Dublet  is  supposed  to 
be  referred  to  in  the  statement  "  And  that  Five  hundred 
Acres  of  Land  be  reserved  and  laid  out  for  the  Benefit  of 
any  of  the  Descendants  of  the  Indian  Proprietors  of  the 
Said  Plantation  that  may  be  surviving;  a  Proportion  thereof 
to  be  for  Sarah  Dublet,  alias  Sarah  Indian."  The  reser- 
vation thus  made  was  the  origin  of  the  Littleton  hamlet, 
called  Indian  New-town.  Sarah  Dublet,  in  1734,  was  the 
only  heir  to  this  five  hundred  acres,  and  old  and  decrepit, 
she  at  length  conveyed  it  to  pay  for  her  maintenance. 

The  original  dwelling  of  the  Blanchards  was  probably 
constructed  of  logs,  and  the  inmates  were  exposed  to  the 
hardships  of  pioneer  life  in  New  England  in  the  last  part 
of  the  seventeeth  century ;  and,  probably,  Joseph  himself 
frequently  held  such  watch  and  ward  over  his  possessions 
as  the  times,  made  perilous  by  the  predatory  incursions  of 
the  Northern  and  Eastern  Indians,  required  for  years  after 
the  close  of  King  Philip's  war.  Doubtless  the  narration 
of  events,  then  recent,  and  the  daring  and  fortitude  ex- 
hibited by  his  relatives,  led  Simon,  the  son  of  Joseph,  and 
father  of  Calvin  and  Luther,  who  was  born  October  5, 1728, 
to  enlist  in  his  country's  service.  But  not  only  was  the 
neighborhood  which  was  occupied  by  the  Powerses,  Shep- 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  79 

ards  and  Blanchards  rife  with  thrilling  traditions,  but 
it  also  contained  landmarks  and  other  objects  that  were 
rich  in  historic  association. 

Near  Nashoba  Hill,  Walter  Powers,  an  uncle  of  Joseph, 
erected,  as  is  supposed,  a  "  block  house,"  the  near  neigh- 
borhood of  which,  if  not  the  exact  site,  is  still  pointed  out. 
The  presence  of  this  old  garrison  building,  although  in 
times  of  tranquility  it  was  a  mere  defensive  farmhouse,  was 
suggestive  of  what  was  war-like,  and  of  ominous  reports  of 
Indians,  which  had  more  than  once  sent  the  little  house- 
holds of  the  neighborhood  from  their  warm  firesides  to  this 
friendly  stronghold  for  protection.  But,  probably,  an  event, 
which,  more  than  any  other,  tended  to  make  an  impression 
upon  Simon  in  his  boyhood,  was  a  sad  mishap  which  befell 
three  of  the  Shepard  family,  Isaac,  Jacob  and  Mary,  by 
which  the  two  brothers  lost  their  lives  and  the  sister  was 
captured.  The  event  occurred  on  February  12,  1675-1676, 
just  after  the  burning  of  Lancaster  by  the  forces 
under  King  Philip.  Isaac  and  Jacob  Shepard  were 
threshing  grain  in  the  barn,  south  of  the  house,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  lane  to  the  present  Pickard  place,  near 
the  road.  They  had  stationed  their  sister  Mary,  aged 
fifteen  years,  on  Quagana  hill,  to  watch  for  Indians,  but 
she  was  taken  by  surprise  and  captured,  her  two  brothers 
were  killed,  and  the  building  was  burned.  Mary  was 
taken  away  by  the  band  of  savages,  but  escaped  the  follow- 
ing night  upon  a  horse,  which  the  historian  Hubbard 
states,  was  captured  by  the  Indians  the  day  before  at  Lan- 
caster. 

As  the  old  Powers  block-house  and  its  neighborhood 
are  closely  associated  with  Calvin  and  Luther's  ancestry, 


80  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

they,  perhaps,  require  more  than  a  passing  notice.  The 
house  stood  near  Nashoba  hill,  and  was  long  known  as  the 
Reed  house,  because  it  was  occupied  later  by  Mr.  Samuel 
Reed.  It  was  about  a  story  and  a  half  high,  and  had  two 
rooms  on  the  ground  floor,  and  two  chambers  or  attic 
rooms.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  about  1828.  The  site  of 
the  building,  it  is  believed  by  the  Littleton  Historical 
Society,  has  been  nearly  or  quite  definitely  ascertained, 
and  that  the  house  was  undoubtedly  built  and  originally 
used  by  Walter  Powers. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  block-house  is  what  was,  prob 
ably,  the  first  burying-ground  of  the  early  grantees.  This 
has  been  called  the  Powers  burying-ground,  and  is  said  to 
have  contained  an  area  of  about  eight  rods  by  six.  Years 
ago,  about  a  score  of  small  rude  grave-stones  were  visible, 
standing  about  two  feet  out  of  the  ground,  having  brief 
inscriptions  upon  them.  The  bodies  were  buried  with  feet 
toward  a  wall,  which  extended  on  one  side  of  this  burial 
plot.  In  this  ground,  the  body  of  Walter  Powers  was 
undoubtedly  interred ;  and  it  may  have  been  originally  set 
apart  by  him  as  a  family  burial  place,  and  perhaps  most  of 
the  bodies  buried  there,  were  of  the  Shepard,  Powers,  and 
Blanchard  households. 

Several  years  ago  a  simple,  natural  stone  was  found  in 
the  wall,  near  the  premises,  bearing  the  inscription,  "  W.  P., 
1708,"  the  day  of  the  month,  which  was  also  given,  corres- 
ponding within  two  or  three  days  with  the  date  of  Walter 
Powers'  death,  in  the  Concord  records.  As  other  similar 
stones,  it  is  said,  have  been  discovered  thereabouts,  it  is 
evident  they  were  removed  from  the  old  graves  by  some 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  8 1 

one  who  cleared  this  ancient  burial  place  of  the  forefathers 
for  the  plow,  which  subsequently  obliterated  the  mounds. 
At  what  date  this  spot  ceased  to  be  used  for  interments 
is  not  known,  but,  as  one  of  the  earliest  dates  in  the  Little- 
ton Common  graveyard  is  1717  or  1718,  and  no  stone  bears 
the  name  of  Powers  or  Shepard,  and  but  three  bear  the 
name  of  Blanchard,  we  conclude  that  the  little,  lone  spot, 
east  of  the  hollow  by  the  wall,  contains  the  dust  of  those 
ancient  householders,  but  this  region,  once  so  identified 
with  these  three  family  names,  long  since  ceased  to  hear 
them  spoken,  except  as  belonging  to  parties  living  else- 
where. Other  families  have  taken  their  places;  not  a  fur- 
row in  a  Littleton  field  is  now  turned  by  a  Blanchard;  not 
an  acre  is  tilled  by  a  Powers  or  a  Shepard,  but  the  whole 
range  of  territory,  from  the  old  garrison-house,  through 
"  Newton "  or  "  Newtowne,"  where  Thomas  Blanchard 
owned  meadow  land,  to  the  Albert  Littlefield  farm,  the 
early  home  of  Calvin  and  Luther,  is  now  trodden  by 
stranger  footsteps,  and  inhabited  by  those  not  to  the 
ancient  "  manor  born."  The  little  plot,  which  probably 
contains  what  is  mortal  of  the  pioneer  grantees  of  the  I7th 
century,  alone  keeps  its  treasure,  notwithstanding  that 
which  indicated  its  whereabouts  has  been  so  unfortunately 
removed,  as  if  the  living  begrudged  the  resting  places  of 
the  dead.  But  even  this  little  which  remains  will  yet 
waste;  and  not  until  the  great  resurrection  morning,  will 
that  be  restored  which  will  give  a  semblance  of  the  prime 
actors  who  have  long  been  silent.  But,  though  dead,  their 
influence,  and  the  results  of  what  they  did  is  still  active. 
The  present  is  a  product  of  a  busy  past,  and  while  the  old 
woodland  walls  have  tumbled,  and  the  loose  stones  lie 


82  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

moss-grown  in  the  shrubbery,  and  the  land  ranges  have  be- 
come indistinct,  yet  the  greater  community  that  has  come 
in,  with  its  improved  schools  and  more  comfortable  home- 
steads, are  but  the  outgrowth  of  the  noble  efforts  of  those 
who,  by  their  sturdy  toil,  thus  early  staked  out  their  claims 
and  established  their  rude  boundary  lines. 

Not  only  did  Joseph,  the  younger,  live  in  a  period  in 
which  the  events  and  traditions  connected  with  Philip's 
war  were  fresh,  but  he  lived  when  he  himself  was  an  actor 
in  stirring  scenes  of  a  similar  character.  It  was  the  first 
quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  century  when  the  drear  wood- 
lands again  rang  with  the  savage  shout,  and  the  fair  inter- 
vals were  again  to  be  fought  over  by  the  settlers.  The  foe 
might  at  any  time  be  seen  in  his  doorway,  or  he  might  at 
any  time  discover  signs  of  lurking  savages,  who  were 
lying  in  wait  to  kill  or  capture  their  victims  and 
burn  his  dwelling.  The  sound  of  a  musket  fired  in  the  far 
off  forest,  an  unusual  smoke  rising  upward  on  the  hazy 
horizon,  the  strange  imprint  of  a  moccasined  foot  in  the 
soft  meadow  land,  the  return  from  the  pasture  path  of  a 
wounded  cow,  a  herd  of  deer  fleeing  affrighted  through 
the  clearing,  all  of  these  might  be  omens  that  betokened 
danger,  and  rendered  the  ordinary  life  of  Joseph  Blanchard 
one  of  watchfulness  and  suspense. 

This  was  the  period  of  the  daring  ranger  expeditions 
which  called  for  a  sagacity  and  military  prowess  that  were 
exceptional.  In  this  service  Joseph's  own  townspeople 
and  kinsmen  were  engaged.  In  one  of  these  expeditions 
Ephraim  Powers,  with  seventeen  others  were  attacked 
by  Indians,  while  on  the  march  from  Northfield  to  Fort 
Dummer.  Jonathan  Lawrence,  a  comrade  of  Powers,  was 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  83 

captured  and  taken  to  Canada.  Powers  was  stripped, 
robbed  of  his  firearms  and  wounded  in  the  head.  In  the 
ill-starred  expedition  of  Lieut.-Col.  John  Winslow  to  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1755,  were  several  soldiers  from  Littleton,  among 
whom  were  David  and  Walter  Powers,  husbandmen.  This 
is  the  expedition  that  took  the  French  Neutrals,  so  called, 
from  their  pleasant  homes  in  Arcadia,  which  event  the 
poet  Longfellow  has  made  pathetically  prominent  in  his 
poem,  "  Evangeline."  Some  of  the  neutrals,  who  were  re- 
moved, were  brought  to  Littleton.  They  are  called  on  the 
town  records,  "Neuters."  This  unfortunate  class  was 
billeted  out  among  the  towns  of  the  Bay  Province,  and 
were  the  wards  of  the  places  to  which  they  were  assigned. 
Thus  was  the  age  and  environment  of  Simon  Blanch- 
ard's  father  of  a  nature  suited  to  stamp  its  impress 
upon  the  children ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  when  the  last 
of  the  dark  and  eventful  intercolonial  wars  between  Eng- 
land and  France  set  in,  Simon,  who  was  born  October  6, 
1728,  should  enlist  in  that  perilous  service,  which  brought 
the  soldier  face  to  face  with,  perhaps,  one  of  the  worst 
combinations  of  men  that  ever  engaged  in  civilized  warfare; 
a  mongrel  element  of  Indians,  French  and  halfbreeds.  As 
the  conflict  waged  by  the  English  was  mainly  by  expedi- 
tions into  a  cold,  rough  country,  the  hardship  was  unusu- 
ally severe.  We  conclude  Simon  was  in  several  expedi- 
tions. 

His  name  is  among  a  list  of  men  certified  to,  Septem- 
ber 27,  1755,  belonging  to  Col.  Josiah  Brown's  regiment; 
as  engaged  in  the  expedition  against  Crown  Point.  (State 
Archieves,  vol.  93,  page  206).  His  name  is  also  on  a  mus- 
ter-roll, dated  Boston,  March  4,  1758,  of  a  company  under 


84  LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

command  of  Captain  Daniel  Fletcher.  Entered  service 
September  1 5  ;  served  until  September  30.  (State  Archives, 
vol.  94,  page  71).  He  is  also  spoken  of  in  connection  with 
the  Crown  Point  expedition,  year  not  given,  but  probably 
1755;  reported  sick  at  home. 

His  last  and  crowning  act  of  service  was  at  the  capture 
of  Quebec,  which  took  place  December  17,  1759.  This 
place  was  captured  by  General  Wolf  and  his  daring  army 
of  English  and  colonial  soldiers,  who  made  their  way  up  a 
narrow  pathway  above  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  and  at  early 
morning  surprised  Montcalm,  the  French  commander,  on 
the  plains  of  Abraham.  In  the  conflict  that  ensued  Gen- 
eral Wolf  fell,  with  many  of  his  triumphant  followers,  and 
among  these  was  Simon  Blanchard. 

In  this  connection  a  few  facts  may  be  interesting  rela- 
tive to  the  expedition  that  Calvin  engaged  in,  to  take  from 
the  English  the  same  capital  city  of  Canada,  that  his  father, 
but  a  few  years  before,  helped  them  to  conquer  from  the 
French.  This  expedition  started  in  September,  1775.  It 
is  thus  described  by  the  historian  Quackenbos:  "No  one 
can  estimate  the  hardships  that  devoted  band  were  called 
on  to  endure ;  now  forcing  their  way  through  tangled 
thickets  and  over  pathless  mountains;  and  now  wading 
through  swollen  rivers,  pushing  their  boats  before  them,  or 
borne  away  by  rapids  and  struggling  for  life  amid  the 
waves;  worn  out,  sick,  cold,  hungry,  disheartened.  Not  a 
few  gave  up  the  expedition,  and  returned  to  Massachusetts. 
With  some  of  his  bravest  men,  Arnold  pushed  on  to  a 
French  village  for  supplies,  leaving  the  rest  of  his  force  in 
a  most  critical  position.  The  last  ox  was  killed  and  dis- 
tributed; the  last  dog  was  eaten  with  avidity;  then  roots 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  85 

and  moose-skin  moccasins  were  their  only  resource.  When 
the  aid  sent  back  by  Arnold  reached  the  famished  band, 
they  had  eaten  nothing  for  two  days.  Even  such  suffering, 
however,  could  not  discourage  these  brave  hearts." 

In  1760,  administration  papers  were  granted  for  the 
settlement  of  the  estate  of  Simon  Blanchard.  One  of  the 
sureties  on  the  probate  bond  was  Sarah,  the  widow  of 
Joseph  Blanchard.  According  to  the  inventory  filed  the 
estate  was  appraised  as  follows:  Real  estate,  i6o;£;  per- 
sonal property,  62  £  i6s  6d;  total  212  £  i6s  6d.  Among 
the  assets  was  given  the  following  item :  "And  also  wages 
due  for  his  services  done  His  Majesty  at  Quebec, 
29 £  is."  Among  the  charges  the  first  item  was:  "To 
mourning  for  herself  and  children."  From  the  report  of 
the  appraisers,  relative  to  the  real  property,  we  are  led  to 
infer  that  Simon  Blanchard's  farm  was  adjacent  to  lands 
of  his  father,  for  they  give  the  boundary  lines  on  the  north- 
westerly and  southwesterly,  as  lying  along  "land  and 
meadow  of  Joseph  Blanchard."  The  children  being  minors, 
guardians  were  appointed  for  them.  Joseph  Worster  serv- 
ing for  Calvin,  and  Ephraim  Hosmerfor  Luther.  Accord- 
ing to  tradition,  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the  home  farm  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Calvin,  born  February  27,  1754.  Calvin 
married  Abigail  Reed  of  Westford.  They  had  nine  chil- 
dren, among  whom  was  Simon,  who  was  born  in  Boxboro, 
April  3,  1784.  As  the  oldest  son,  Calvin,  kept  the  home- 
place,  Simon  went  to  Littleton,  where  he  learned  the 
cooper's  trade  of  Joseph  Fletcher.  After  working  at  his 
trade  seven  years  he  married  Martha  Shattuck,  a  descend- 
ant of  Rev.  Benjamin  Shattuck,  first  minister  of  Littleton. 
They  had  two  children.  October  27,  1814,  Simon  married 


86  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

for  his  second  wife,  Mary,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah 
Keyes  of  Westford.  They  were  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren, among  whom  was  Luke,  the  third  son. 

LUKE  BLANCHARD. 

A  memorial  volume,  commemorative  of  Calvin  and 
Luther  Blanchard  would,  perhaps,  hardly  be  complete 
without  a  short,  biographical  sketch  of  the  publisher. 

Luke  Blanchard  was  born  in  Boxboro,  January  17, 
1826.  His  early  life  was  spent  on  his  father's  farm,  and, 
like  most  country  children,  he  was  busily  occupied  with 
such  work  as  a  boy  could  do,  and  received  but  scanty 
school  privileges.  At  the  age  of  eleven  he  commenced 
driving  an  ox-team  to  Boston ;  a  work  which  tended  to  test 
his  patience,  and  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weather,  to  test 
also  the  strength  of  his  physique. 

The  boy  successfully  endured  the  tests,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  after  having  attended  school  at  Nashua,  N.  H., 
one  term,  he  started  out  for  himself  as  a  dealer  in  country 
produce,  which  business  he  has  successfully  pursued  up  to 
the  present  time.  Besides  conducting  an  extensive  com- 
mission trade  in  country  produce,  he  has  dealt  extensively 
in  real  property,  and  is  also  engaged  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness. His  landed  possessions  are  situated  in  several  of 
the  states,  and  also  in  the  British  provinces. 

The  commission  office  and  headquarters  of  the  Blanch- 
ards  are  at  No.  20,  Quincy  Market,  South  Market  street, 
Boston,  where  Luke  Blanchard,  with  his  son,  Arthur  F., 
born  January  21,  1864,  do  business  under  the  firm  name  of 
L.  Blanchard  and  Company. 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  87 

Mr.  Luke  Blanchard  married  Miss  Jerusha  Vose,  April 
8,  1858.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  two  of  whom 
are  living.  Each  of  the  surviving  children  reside  at  West 
Acton,  Anna  is  a  member  of  her  father's  household.  Ar- 
thur married  Miss  Charlotte  T.  Sanderson,  daughter  of  Hon. 
George  W.  Sanderson  of  Littleton,  January  28,  1891. 

Mr.  Blanchard  is,  for  a  person  of  his  age,  in  fairly 
good  health,  and  conducts  his  business  with  the  zest  and 
carefulness  of  former  years.  Being  a  pioneer  in  apple  ex- 
portation, he  has  continued  to  interest  himself  in  the  busi- 
ness, not  only  by  employing  his  capital,  but  by  giving  it 
his  personal  supervision.  Thus  we  conclude,  that  the  an- 
cestors' traits  have  been  transmitted  to,  and  had  develop- 
ment in  their  descendants ;  and  the  act  of  Luke  Blanchard, 
in  endeavoring  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  worthy 
sires,  may  be  considered  as  a  thankoffering  to  them,  and  a 
reminder  to  posterity  of  the  source,  under  Providence,  of 
whatever  prosperity  they  may  be  permitted  to  enjoy. 


CAUSE  OF 

LUTHER  BLANCHARD'S  DEATH. 


VIII. 

Wondrous  and  awful  are  thy  silent  halls, 

O,  kingdom  of  the  past ! 
There  lie  the  bygone  ages  in  their  palls, 

Guarded  by  shadows  vast, — 


Thy  mighty  clamors,  wars  and  world  noised  deeds 

Are  silent  now  in  dust, 
Gone  like  a  tremble  of  the  huddling  reeds 

Beneath  some  sudden  gust. 


Here  'mid  the  bleak  waves  of  our  strife  and  care, 

Float  the  green  Fortunate  Isles 
Where  all  thy  hero  spirits  dwell,  and  share 

Our  martyrdoms  and  toils. 

Russell  Lowell. 


As  we  close  this  brief  history  of  Luther  Blanchard,  it 
may  be  appropriate  to  consider  some  things  relative  to  the 
cause  of  his  death. 


go  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

The  inscription  on  the  memorial  stone  states,  that 
"Luther  was  the  first  man  hit  by  a  British  bullet  at  the  old 
North  Bridge,  and  died  in  the  service  of  his  country  a  few 
months  later."  This  inscription,  according  to  oft  repeated 
and  well  authenticated  tradition,  might  be  supplemented 
by,  From  the  effects  of  the  wound.  That  this  tradition 
may  have  its  full  force  and  effect,  we  submit  the  follow- 
ing considerations: 

1st.  When  there  is  no  evidence  against  a  proposition 
or  statement  which  is  not  only  possible  but  highly  prob- 
able, it  takes  but  little  evidence  to  establish  it. 

2d.  When  the  truth  of  a  proposition  or  statement  is 
possible  and  highly  probable,  and  there  is  a  strong  pre- 
sumption in  its  favor,  it  takes  much  evidence  to  overthrow 
it. 

When  these  rules  are  applied  in  the  case  before  us, 
the  fact  that  Luther  Blanchard,  the  young  Acton  fifer, 
died  of  the  wound  received  at  Concord,  stands  out  dis- 
tinctly and  in  a  way  to  challenge  rebuttal.  To  begin  with, 
we  believe  it  safe  to  assert  that  there  is  no  authority,  either 
of  tradition  or  of  record,  for  assigning  his  death  to  any 
other  cause;  neither,  to  our  knowledge,  has  such  authority 
ever  been  quoted,  or  found  its  way  into  public  print.  If 
there  have  been  any  doubts,  they  have,  so  far  as  we  are 
informed,  been  unaccompanied  by  substantial  reasons 
therefor,  and  have  arisen  rather  from  the  absence  of  any 
official  report  relative  to  the  cause  of  Luther  Blanchard's 
death,  than  from  one  scrap  of  evidence  that  the  cause  was 
other  than  tradition  declares  it  to  be. 

To  consider  closely  the  main  features  of  this  subject, 
let  us  notice  the  two  general  sources  from  which  history 


LUTHER  BLANCH ARD  MEMORIAL.  9 1 

springs.  These  are,  first,  tradition  as  to  things  remote, 
and  living  heresay  as  to  things  intermediate  and  in  the 
near  past ;  secondly,  the  data  or  dictum  of  records  written 
or  printed. 

In  the  instance  before  us,  when  we  turn  to  these  two 
sources,  we  find  on  the  one  hand  tradition  ample  in  quan- 
tity, and  trustworthy  in  quality ;  and  on  the  other,  such 
sufficient  reasons  for  any  absence  or  omission  of  records, 
written  or  printed,  as  might  satisfy  any  inquirer  for  the 
facts.  As  to  the  information  that  has  come  to  us  from 
tradition,  it  is  substantial,  simple  and  natural.  It  comes 
from  families  and  from  citizens  whose  patriotic  fervor  has 
been  undoubted,  whose  integrity  none  may  question,  and 
whose  opportunity  to  know  has  been  good. 

That  the  traditions  concerning  Luther  Blanchard's 
death  have  mainly  come  from  his  own  family  is  only  natu- 
ral, and  what  under  the  circumstances  might  be  expected. 
Had  he  died  only  a  few  hours  after  receiving  his  wound,  as 
was  the  case  with  James  Hayward,  his  death  would  have 
been  so  closely  connected  with  its  cause,  that  the  two 
events  would  as  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  hardly 
have  been  separated.  The  whole  tragedy  being  almost  in 
one  simultaneous  and  single  act,  the  tidings  of  it  would  be 
as  of  one  event,  and  would  naturally  be  told  in  the  simple 
statement,  He  was  shot  and  soon  died.  But  under  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  death  of  Luther  Blanchard,  this 
could  hardly  be  expected,  for  it  was  an  instance  involving 
weeks  and  months,  with  all  the  intermediary  incidents  and 
episodes  in  that  epoch  making  period,  from  the  retreat  of 
the  Regulars  April  igth,  to  the  fierce  conflict  at  Bunker 
Hill,  June  i/th.  The  chronological  space  was  altogether 


92  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

too  long,  and  the  complication  of  perils  was  too  great  for  the 
detailed  experience  of  a  wounded  soldier  to  be  followed  by 
the  public  through  camp  and  field  and  hospital,  till  he  was 
reported  on  the  muster  rolls  "  dead."  There  were  no  town 
"  war  committees  "  then,  to  as  carefully  note  things  as  in 
our  Civil  War;  it  was  a  time  when  each  family  was  left 
mainly  to  keep  the  record  of  its  own  soldier  members. 

The  siege  of  Boston  was  one  of  prolonged  and  perilous 
vicissitude.  During  its  continuance  there  were  enlist- 
ments and  re-enlistments ;  families  were  decimated,  house- 
holds were  broken  up,  lands  abandoned  and  left  in  barren- 
ness. It  was  enough  for  each  family  and  hamlet  to  know 
that  their  own  loved  ones  were  spared,  and  if  others  went 
forth  and  died,  they  would  hardly  stop  to  consider  the 
cause  of  their  death.  In  the  time  of  our  country's  early 
wars,  town  records  were  few  and  scant,  and  even  complete 
lists  of  the  greater  casualties  were,  if  obtained,  not  always 
preserved.  But  the  records  of  communities  and  of  mere 
neighborhoods,  and  much  the  more  of  single  households, 
were  still  more  fragmentary  and  scant.  Stationery  was 
scarce,  the  king's  stamp  upon  paper  was  a  mark  of  detesta- 
tion to  an  incensed,  tax-oppressed  people,  and  but  little 
patronage  would  the  royal  revenue  receive  from  the  patri- 
otic householder,  even  by  the  scant  purchase  of  a  piece  of 
crown  paper,  upon  which  to  preserve  a  brief  family  record. 
Even  in  our  own  day,  few  are  they  who  have  a  written 
record  of  family  casualties  in  the  late  Civil  War.  Their 
reliance  is  on  the  sad  inscriptions  written  on  their  hearts 
or  upon  the  public  records  of  the  state  or  nation. 

Small  opportunity,  therefore,  was  there  for  the  public 
at  large  to  be  apprised  at  once  of  the  cause  of  Luther 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  93 

Blanchard's  death.  They  might  know  by  the  military  rolls 
that  he  died  ;  but  when  he  died,  and  of  what,  few  would 
stop  to  investigate  or  even  to  inquire.  Not  so  with  the 
family.  Although  the  age  was  such  a  practical  one,  and 
the  sentimental  side  of  things  was  so  often  ignored,  and 
from  sheer  necessity  it  had  to  give  way  to  the  more  sub- 
stantial, there,  nevertheless,  were  tenderly  cherished  in 
the  memory  of  households  the  choice  annals  of  each  life 
history,  and  the  details  and  causes  of  events  that  brought 
bereavement  and  loss.  Leading  events  were  remembered 
and  rehearsed  to  the  children  and  the  children's  chil- 
dren, until,  like  the  ballads  and  legends  of  the  old  Scottish 
minstrels,  they  at  length  became  engrafted  upon  society, 
and  finally  crystalized  into  national  history.  So  it  was  in 
the  instance  of  this  conspicuous  actor  in  the  American 
Revolution. 

As  the  echo  of  the  shots  that  were  fired,  responsive 
to  those  which  hit  the  youthful  musician  and  those  others, 
whose  names  like  his  have  immortalized  the  annals  of 
Acton,  died  away,  and  the  smoke,  mingling  with  the  morn- 
ing mists  of  the  river  and  the  meadows,  rose  upward  and 
faded,  so  the  details  of  the  conflict  and  a  portion  of  the 
sequel,  as  these  affected  only  the  individual  actor  and  his 
family,  were  lost  sight  of  by  the  public  in  the  great  din 
and  dreadfulness  of  the  scenes  of  that  memorable  year 
between  April  19,  1775  and  March  17,  1776,  when  the 
last  English  man-of-war  left  the  Massachusetts  Bay  waters. 
But,  little  by  little,  the  facts  through  tradition  have  come 
to  the  front,  and  so  may  they  continue  to  become  prom- 
inent until  honor  is  given  to  whom  honor  is  due,  and 


94  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

standard  history   incorporates   with  our  nation's   leading 
events  these  interesting  family  annals. 

In  view,  then,  of  the  exceptional  nature  of  the  times, 
and  the  consequent  obscurity  of  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing Luther  Blanchard's  death,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
public  was  not  apprised  of  its  cause ;  nor  that  it  should  fail 
to  be  known  other  than  by  family  tradition,  nor  readily 
pass  into  history.  Neither  is  it  a  matter  of  wonder  that 
the  Provincial  war  records  failed  to  give  the  cause  of  his 
death ;  it  was  for  these  to  give  the  fact  of  his  death ;  for 
the  recording  officer  to  do  more  than  this,  might,  under  the 
circumstances,  be  going  beyond  his  province ;  for  Luther 
Blanchard,  it  is  alleged,  died  from  a  wound  received  at  the 
Concord  fight,  and  not  from  a  cause  incident  to  any  ser- 
vice in  the  Continental  army.  When  he  was  struck  by  the 
British  bullet,  he  was  a  minute-man,  and  as  such,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  doing  a  quasi  independent  service.  After 
he  arrived  at  Charlestown,  his  work  as  a  minute-man 
ended ;  at  that  time  he  began  a  new  service,  and  entered 
by  a  new  enlistment  that  organization  called  the  Contin- 
ental army,  for  eight  months'  service,  designed  for  the 
siege  of  Boston.  As,  then,  the  wound  causing  his  death 
was  received  prior  to  this  later  enlistment,  nothing,  per- 
haps, should  be  expected  from  the  Continental  army  rec- 
ords, except  the  words  found  there,  "  Reported  dead." 
But  when  we  turn  to  the  true  and  natural  chronicler  of 
personal  events,  and  search  the  only  source  of  history  that 
can  be  expected  to  preserve  and  transmit  them,  we  hear 
the  utterance  of  unmistakable  voices.  Then  it  is,  that  we 
have  testimony  that  should  be  unquestioned  as  to  its  trust- 
worthiness, because  they  who  gave  it  were  honest  and 


LUTHER   BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  95 

competent  witnesses.  It  has  never  been  a  matter  of  doubt 
by  members  of  the  Blanchard  family  of  Boxboro  or  Acton 
that  Luther  died  from  the  wound  received  at  the  Concord 
North  bridge,  although,  no  one  ever  pretended  to  give  the 
exact  time. 

Among  those  who  have  made  the  oft-repeated  and 
positive  declaration  that  Luther  died  of  his  North  bridge 
wound,  was  Calvin,  his  brother,  who,  being  also  at  the  siege 
of  Boston,  until  he  went  on  the  Canada  expedition  in  Sep- 
tember, was  in  a  position  to  know  whether  or  not  that 
wound  was  ever  healed  ;  and,  moreover,  on  his  return  from 
Canada,  he  could  easily  ascertain  if  it  caused  his  death. 
Calvin  Blanchard  always  stated  in  unequivocal  terms  that 
his  brother  Luther  died  from  the  effects  of  that  wound  ; 
and,  repeatedly,  did  his  son  Simon  state  what  he  had  so 
often  heard  from  his  father's  lips  about  his  uncle  Luther. 

We  would  state  here,  that  if  the  value  of  tradition  is 
to  be  rated  by  the  grade  of  character  of  those  who  com- 
municate it,  it  is  entitled  in  this  case  to  a  high  estimate; 
for  Simon  Blanchard  was  a  most  estimable  citizen,  and  a 
man  unusually  careful  and  considerate  in  speech ;  what  he 
heard  and  believed,  he  repeated  just  as  it  was,  and  trans- 
mitted to  posterity  only  what  he  sincerely  and  earnestly 
believed.  In  an  interview  with  a  citizen  of  Acton  con- 
cerning the  cause  of  Luther  Blanchard's  death,  he  informed 
us  that  Mr.  Simon  Blanchard  told  him  when  a  boy,  that 
his  father  said  his  uncle  Luther  died  of  a  wound  received 
at  the  Concord  fight.  Mr.  Luke  Blanchard,  son  of  Simon, 
says  that  his  father  was  always  positive  in  stating  that  his 
father  told  him  that  his  brother  Luther  died  of  the  wound 
received  at  Concord.  Thus  has  the  tradition  come  down 


96  LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL. 

through  the  one  natural  channel  whence  such  information 
usually  passes  into  the  future.  By  such  rills  the  great 
river  of  history  gathers  and  widens  and  flows,  until  it 
becomes  a  mighty  stream  and  landmark  of  time  at  which 
they  who  thirst  for  a  knowledge  of  the  past,  stop  and 
drink.  Much  of  standard  history  is  received  from  tales 
told  first  by  the  hearthstone  or  by  the  group  seated  by 
the  country-side,  or  uttered,  it  may  be,  at  the  crossroads 
store,  or  at  the  village  inn. 

Once  exclude  that  portion  of  our  country's  chronicles, 
which  has  come  down  through  private  channels,  and  many 
of  our  choice  annals  would  be  lost.  But  it  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell  longer  on  the  evidence  upon  which  this  interest- 
ing fact  rests,  for  we  believe  enough  has  already  been 
stated  to  substantiate  every  claim  that  has  been  made  for 
the  youthful  fifer. 

Before  closing,  however,  we  would  state,  that  every 
presumption  in  the  premises  perhaps  favors  what  the  testi- 
mony here  adduced  or  reviewed  tends  to  establish.  Each 
statement  made  about  the  cause  of  Luther  Blanchard's 
death,  which  stands  collaterally  related  to  the  main  issue, 
or  which  as  an  episode  stands  related  to  the  main  fact,  is 
corroborative  of  it.  The  assertion  that  has  often  been  made, 
that  Luther  Blanchard  died  in  a  building  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, then  used  as  a  hospital,  coupled  with  the  assertion 
that  he  died  of  the  wound  received  at  the  old  North  bridge, 
is  a  coincidence  of  statements,  which  we  believe  makes 
probable  all  that  is  alleged  in  each,  for  naturally  the  two 
traditions,  being  thus  connected,  stand  or  fall  together. 
That  Harvard  College  was  used  as  a  barrack,  and  hence 
presumably  as  a  place  for  any  sick  soldier,  is  a  fact  estab- 


LUTHER   BLANCH ARD   MEMORIAL.  97 

lished  in  history,  being  given  in  a  history  of  Harvard 
College  and  also  in  the  history  of  Middlesex  County, 
published  by  Lewis  and  Company,  in  1890,  vol.  i,  page 
89.  In  the  latter  volume,  it  is  stated,  that  in  April  1775, 
when  the  Massachusetts  militia  was  concentrated  at  Cam- 
bridge, the  college  government  removed  the  library  and 
apparatus  to  Andover,  and  a  little  later,  ordered  it  to  be 
removed  to  Concord.  The  legislature  was  afterwards 
applied  to  for  indemnification  for  damage  done  by  the  sol- 
diers, when  they  occupied  the  building,  and  for  loss  of  rent. 

If  the  statement  that  Luther  Blanchard  died  of  any 
wound  is  correct,  the  circumstances  are  such  as  lead  almost 
conclusively  to  a  belief  that  it  was  the  one  received  at  the 
North  bridge ;  for  there  was  but  little  opportunity  for  him 
to  receive  a  wound  anywhere  else,  without  its  being  re- 
corded, and  without  its  being  known  to  his  brother.  It  is 
not  claimed  that  his  name  is  on  the  list  of  casualties  at 
Bunker  Hill.  In  the  siege  of  Boston  there  was  little,  if 
any  skirmishing  of  a  nature  that  much  imperilled  the 
American  ranks,  and  no  battle  was  fought  there  after  June 
I7th.  As  late  as  August  ist,  the  name  of  Luther  Blanch- 
ard, with  the  rank  of  corporal,  is  on  the  muster  rolls. 
This  leads  to  the  presumption  that  he  was  able-bodied  at 
that  time  and  without  any  serious  injury  at  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  That  he  died  of  disease  is,  in  the  presence 
of  the  slightest  testimony  that  he  died  of  a  wound,  hardly 
admissible  for  a  moment. 

We  are  informed  he  was  a  man  of  fine  physique,  ath- 
letic and  powerful.  The  Middlesex  contingent  of  the  con- 
tinental army  was  operating  on  its  native  heath,  and  there 
were  no  unusual  perils  of  climate  to  be  encountered.  Thus 


98  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

it  is,  that  every  circumstance  and  tradition  concur  in  de- 
claring that  Luther  Blanchard's  death  was  from  a  wound 
made  by  a  British  musket  ball  at  the  North  bridge, 
Concord,  Mass.,  April  igth,  1775.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
explain  any  silence  of  history  concerning  this  matter  prior 
to  the  last  quarter-century.  History  is  not  always  com- 
plete until  years  after  the  occurrences  which  it  relates. 
Length  of  time  is  a  great  revealer  of  what  has  transpired 
within  its  mysterious  cycles.  History  shrinks  and  gathers 
and  grows  again  as  successive  resurrections  disclose  the 
false  and  declare  the  true.  As  men  come  and  men  go, 
they  leave  at  last  the  world's  annals  in  the  hands  of  those, 
who  in  an  unprejudiced  way,  and  un warped  by  the  petty 
influences  of  locality  and  personality,  do  justice  to  its 
actors.  Then,  history  arrives  at  its  best,  then,  if  ever,  it 
is  finished. 

Not  until  tradition  could  be  given  its  right  place;  not 
until  there  was  set  upon  it  a  fair  appraisal;  not  until  beliefs 
were  built  upon  evidence,  rather  than  upon  the  absence 
of  it,  was  Luther  Blanchard  given  his  merited  place  in  the 
annals  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

As  to  how  it  occurred  that  Luther  Blanchard,  after 
receiving  a  fatal  bullet  wound  at  the  old  North  bridge, 
April  iQth,  could  continue  in  military  service,  and  mean- 
while pass  through  the  fierce  conflict  at  Bunker  Hill,  and 
the  rigor  of  camp  life,  and  of  work  in  the  intrenchments 
about  Boston,  and  succumb  afterwards  to  its  effects,  is  not 
for  us  to  explain.  We  are  called  upon  to  deal  with  the 
evidence  of  facts,  not  to  formulate  theories  as  to  a  reason 
for  their  existence,  nor  to  offer  explanations  regarding 
their  relations.  The  question  is,  Did  he  die  as  tradition 


LUTHER    BLANCHARD   MEMORIAL.  99 

has  alleged  ?  Not,  How  came  he  to  die  thus  ?  But,  if  no 
read)'  explanation  could  be  given,  it  might  be  dealing 
unfairly  with  evidence,  and  impair  the  rights  of  the  truth, 
to  doubt  the  credibility  of  witnesses,  because  we  cannot 
readily  explain  what  they  testify  to. 

Life  is  full  of  strange  mysteries,  and  great  is  the  mys- 
tery of  living,  and  the  history  of  human  transactions  is  not 
always  complete  in  its  philosophy,  nor  clear  as  to  the  pro- 
cesses that  evolve  the  facts  it  preserves ;  yet  the  province 
of  history  is  not  impaired  by  this,  nor  its  accumulations 
and  conclusions  discredited.  But,  although  not  called  for, 
it  is  by  no  means  difficult  to  conjecture  how  it  happened 
with  Luther  Blanchard.  It  is  not  hard  to  suppose  that  a 
wound  might  terminate  fatally,  which,  for  a  season,  gave 
but  little  discomfort.  Repeatedly  in  the  surgical  reports 
of  the  war  department  are  such  instances  doubtless  re- 
corded, even  in  modern  times,  with  all  the  improved  meth- 
ods for  the  removal  of  gunshots  and  the  prevention  of 
subsequent  mischief.  But  a  century  or  more  ago,  surgery 
was,  as  compared  with  its  present  perfected  condition,  near 
its  infancy ;  and  a  bullet,  fitting  the  bore  of  a  British 
musket,  lodged  in  or  passing  through  a  human  body,  or 
even  slightly  injuring  it,  may  easily  be  conceived  to  occa- 
sion mischief  months  afterwards,  under  adverse  conditions, 
such  as  an  exposure  to  the  elements,  hard  service  and 
neglect.  That  these  conditions  existed  there  can  be  little 
doubt.  Military  life,  at  its  best,  is  wearing  to  the  soldier 
in  the  ranks.  The  gloss  and  coloring  of  a  dress  parade, 
and  the  gay  glamour  of  a  gala  occasion  in  times  of  peace 
are  but  faint  hints  of  what  war  is.  War  is  war,  although 
it  be  in  one's  own  neighborhood,  and  where  many  of  its 


100  LUTHER    BLANCHARD    MEMORIAL. 

asperities  can  be  softened  by  the  best  ministrations  of 
friends  and  a  grateful  country.  So,  doubtless,  Luther 
Blanchard  found  it  in  the  camp  at  Winter  Hill,  which 
locality  in  those  days  was,  perhaps,  bleak  in  winter,  and  in 
summer  exposed  in  bald  barrenness  to  the  hot  rays  of  a 
New  England  sun.  Moreover,  Luther  Blanchard  was  not 
the  soldier  to  shirk ;  the  stern  spirit  of  his  ancestors,  that 
sent  Calvin  through  the  Kennebec  wilds  into  Canada,  and 
his  father  before  him  to  Quebec,  doubtless  prompted  him 
to  his  best  endeavor,  and  led  him  to  hold  out  in  the  camp, 
till  further  persistence  was  impossible. 

Our  conjecture  based  upon  the  foregoing  conclusions 
is,  that  the  ball  which  hit  Luther  Blanchard  struck  him  in 
a  manner  that  left  him  free  of  limb  to  march  and  to  fife ; 
and  that  when  he  enlisted  at  Cambridge  for  an  eight 
months'  service  as  a  Continental  soldier,  he  was  compara- 
tively robust  and  strong ;  but  that  the  wound  received 
April  iQth,  from  complicated  conditions  and  agencies  while 
in  camp,  became  active  and  acute,  and  finally  proved  fatal. 
Such  a  conjecture  explains  all  that  is  necessary,  and  is 
consistent  with  what  is  claimed  in  this  history. 


000684126    6 


